Amaranth
by Soniclink137
Summary: A shaymin has joined the Expedition Society. She is abrasive to all those she speaks with. But when a sickness hits a close friend of the two heroes who defeated Dark Matter, they are both forced to work together with her to cure it. A Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon Story.
1. A New 'Friend'

"We're not going to let you get away!" three voices yelled.

Across a grassy plain with few trees ran a frogadier with a fearful look on its face. It held a white burlap sack over its shoulder that was filled to the brim with both round and angular objects, to the point where bumps and spikes could be seen all around it. Despite the weight it carried, though, the frogadier kept running as fast as it possibly could.

Unfortunately, from behind it came a blur of yellow that quickly overtook the Pokémon, turned around, and slammed into its stomach. The Pokémon, a green-scarved pikachu, flipped over and landed on the ground as the frogadier was sent back. Once he landed, he looked behind the frogadier at his allies and yelled out to them.

"Alright, you two, hit him with all you've got!" he called out.

From behind frogadier, a fennekin wearing a similar green striped scarf that the pikachu was wearing and an espurr, both concentrated and summoned several multicolored psychic orbs. The fennekin did a spin to throw the orbs while the espurr merely pushed her arms forward. The orbs hit their mark and the frogadier was quickly knocked out by the combined Psychic attacks.

"Ha, yeah, that was awesome!" the fennekin cheered, doing a backflip as she did so.

The espurr just rolled her eyes and walked forward to the outlaws. "Come on, Fennix, we've still got work to do," she said.

"Oh come on, Espurr, you can't tell me that wasn't fun!" Fennix said as she walked up to the outlaw with her. "Tell her, Light!"

Light just chuckled while rolling his eyes, having already reached the outlaw. The pikachu gently reached his left paw over to the frogadier's side and took the bag away from it. Light opened up the bag and looked to see what items were inside of it. Inside there, he found several berries of multiple different colors, some blue, some pink, some yellow.

"Yep, the Chief was right," Light said as he looked. "These are the berries taken from Kangaskhan's supplies. That means this frogadier was definitely the outlaw we were looking for."

"The Chief is pretty good at figuring these things out," Fennix said. Light looked up to see that both her and Espurr were already on the other side of the knocked-out outlaw. "The Expedition Society is really good at finding information. That's why I'm proud to work with them!"

"And I thought I'd be hearing less constant praising of the Expedition Society when you finally joined them, not more," Espurr said.

Light shrugged while he reached into his scarf, feeling around for the cold metal pressed against his neck from his snug scarf. "You get used to it," he said.

"Hey!" Fennix yelled at both of them.

Light finally pulled out a golden badge from his scarf and held that badge in front of the frogadier. A bright golden light surrounded the Water-type, blinding the three Pokémon watching the event happen. Once the light dissipated, the frogadier completely disappeared, no trace of his being still existing on the plains, aside from the bag Light repossessed. The pikachu knew he was transported to the police, though, as all outlaws were when the badge teleported them.

"Still, that's kinda amazing," Espurr said after everything was all said and done. "Your badges actually have the ability to teleport outlaws to Officer Magnazone. How does that even work?"

Light shrugged before setting his badge back inside his scarf. "I don't exactly know how it works," he admitted. "It's thanks to Psychic-types, I know that. But badges just have the ability to teleport Pokémon around. They're used for rescue requests and outlaw missions, and it's honestly pretty good that it does. I'm not entirely sure how, though."

"Still, it's rather interesting," Espurr said. "My Psychic-type power is rather strong for my age, and even I can't imagine concentrating it in a badge to use whenever someone needs it." The espurr looked off into the distance with a wistful look. "I wonder if I'll be able to do something like that when I grow up."

Light stood up straight and stretched, feeling the tension leave his muscles as he did so. "Well, that's our mission for the day," he said once he lowered his paws back to his sides. "Thanks for joining us on this, Espurr."

Espurr smiled and nodded. "Thanks for letting me join," she said. "It's honestly kinda fun doing Expedition Society work. Too bad we couldn't go to a new continent, or anything, though."

"Sorry, that'd take too long," Light said. Fennix walked up to his side while he was talking. "Even if we were just going to the Air Continent, it still takes a while to go between continents. You've got school tomorrow, and it'd take half a day just to get to the Air Continent."

"Yeah, I know," Espurr said. "Maybe next time there's a school break, or something."

"You know, you could always joi-" Fennix said, but Light quickly pushed his left paw on her mouth to silence her. Fennix gave him a glare before puffing hot air on his paw. Light felt the heat on his paw and quickly removed it, looking over to see Fennix's glare at him.

"What was that for?" she asked softly, yet harshly. Light was glad that the fennekin figured out he didn't want Espurr hearing this.

"We've already asked why Espurr doesn't just join our team, and she changed the subject on us," Light reminded her in a whisper. "We should just let her be."

"…Fine," Fennix groaned.

"Well, let's start heading back then," Espurr said. "No use hanging around here."

Light looked back at her to see she was just standing there. A part of him wondered if the telepath happened to look into their minds to gauge what conversation happened without her, but since she didn't react, he decided not to worry about it.

"Sure," Light said.

So the three of them began walking eastward back towards the Expedition Society. "So, how's the Expedition Society doing anyways?" Espurr asked on the walk back.

"Fine," Light said. "Actually, there's been renovations done to the place for a while now."

"Renovations?" Espurr asked.

"They're building a medical wing," Light confirmed. "The Chief found a doctor for us. They both should be here by tomorrow actually, by which the medical wing should be finished."

Fennix smiled. "Yeah!" she said with boundless energy and excitement. "We're finally getting a doctor! And a new friend!"

"Well, took you guys long enough," Espurr said. "What species are they?"

Light shook his head. "We don't know. Ampharos just mentioned that we were getting a doctor one day out of the blue and that he was going to be gone for a few days in order to bring them. We've heard nothing else about them. Honestly, though, that is kinda exciting."

"Yeah, I'll bet," Espurr said. "You'll have to tell all of us in Serene Village about it next time you visit."

Light and Fennix both nodded. "Sure we will," Fennix said. "We'll be happy to talk all about it later!"

* * *

Later that night, two Pokémon walked through a cloudy night on a dirt path surrounded by plains as far as the eye could see, their figures obscured in darkness so only their forms visible. One of them was clearly taller than the other and walked on two legs instead of four. They both walked with purpose, though the tall bipedal Pokémon walked a bit faster while the smaller one walked slower and more hesitantly. The taller Pokémon noticed that eventually and stopped to look at the smaller Pokémon.

"Are you ok?" the taller Pokémon asked. He had a smooth male voice as he spoke.

"What do you think?" asked the smaller Pokémon. Her voice was feminine, though harsh and gravely. "If I didn't want to go through with this, I wouldn't have accepted your offer in the first place. I'm fine."

"…I haven't known you long, my friend, but even I can tell there's something on your mind," the tall Pokémon said.

"You're not going to stop asking until I tell you, are you?" the Pokémon sighed, something she's noticed that she's done a lot lately. "Fine. It's been a long time since I've interreacted with a bunch of Pokémon like you. That's it. Nothing too big."

"Well, you can be sure the Pokémon you are about to meet are all nice and friendly," the large Pokémon assured her.

The small Pokémon scoffed. "I think that only makes it worse, to be honest." However, the anger quickly passed with a small sigh. "But I'll live. I have to do this, so I won't complain. Even if it sucks sometimes."

The tall Pokémon sighed. "Please try to interact with the other members. I know that will be difficult for you at first, but…"

"I'm kinda forced to," the small Pokémon said with a sigh. "I'll get by somehow. T-thanks for this chance…Ampharos."

* * *

The morning sun rose over Lively Town in the Water Continent and the sudden brightening of the world caused a stir in Lively Town's largest building, the Expedition Society Headquarters. Within the crew rooms specifically, several Pokémon were beginning to wake up as the morning light flooded into their rooms and those that did moved their tired bodies out of their respective rooms and into the central meeting room.

In Light and Fennix's room, the pikachu was the first to wake up. As his eyes opened up, he turned his head to the right to look out the window at the sunlight pouring down on his face. The pikachu closed his eyes for a few seconds and sighed, stretching his arms over his head as he did so. After stretching, he opened his eyes back up again and got off his straw bed. He stretched once again after standing up before looking towards the fennekin.

"Geez, for how excited you were last night, I'm surprised your asleep right now," the pikachu said with a chuckle. "Figured you'd be the first to wake up for once. Great, now I need to wake you."

The pikachu walked over to his brown bag, which was lying next to the wall under the window, and wrapped the strap over right shoulder. Using his left paw, he frisked through the bag, feeling the various objects until his paw wrapped around something round and squishy. He quickly pulled out the blue berry and placed it in front of the fennekin. He waited a few seconds before the fennekin's eyes opened and her mouth quickly consumed the berry.

"Mmm…morning, Light," the fennekin said after eating the berry, with boundless energy despite having just woken up. "Only an Oran Berry? Really? Can't you do better than that?"

"Morning Fennix," Light said, rolling his eyes. "And no. The berries you like are expensive. Oran Berries are cheap and can be found in most dungeons anyways. Besides, you should wake up with the sun like most normal Pokémon."

"Being a normal Pokémon is boring," Fennix rebutted. "Besides, you and I are both anything but 'normal Pokémon.' So why should I bother?"

 _Well…she's got a point,_ Light thought as he looked down at her. _A human who transformed into a pikachu. The Mythical Pokémon Mew reincarnated as a fennekin. As much as we might look it to most Pokémon, we're anything but normal._

"Because it'd make my life easier," Light suggested with a shrug. "Besides, I'm sure our past lives managed to wake up normally, anyways. So I don't see why you can't do so as well."

"Hmm…" Fennix walked close to Light, standing awkwardly close to him for a few seconds, before walking towards the doorway. "I'll think about it!"

"You're impossible sometimes," Light said, though he didn't expect the conversation to go anywhere else. "Well, you know what happens today, right?"

"Yep!" Fennix said with a happy nod. "We're getting a new friend!"

"And the medial wing is finally opening today," Light added. "Don't forget, they're also a doctor."

"Yep!" Fennix said with a jump. "Let's go, Light!"

And without giving Light a chance to respond or anything, Fennix rushed out of the room and took a left to head to the meeting room. Light shook his head and smiled at his partner's sudden burst of energy when she remembered what exactly was happening that day. He himself stretched to relieve the rest of his tiredness before walking out of his room to follow her.

Once he got to the meeting room, a cacophony of sound reached his ears. The rest of the crew were all talking with each other in various groups and their chief was nowhere to be found. Light didn't even need to pay attention to the various conversations going on in the room to guess at what was exactly on everyone's minds. So he unhurriedly looked around the crowd for Fennix, eventually finding her talking to Dedenne.

"Do you know what kind of Pokémon the Chief is bringing?" Fennix asked just as Light walked up to the group.

"I know she's a girl," Dedenne said. "But the Chief never told me the species. If anyone knows, it's Mawile, and she's been keeping it hush as well. So sorry Fennix, I can't tell you anything. I'm left in the dark too."

"How long until the Chief gets back, anyways?" Light asked.

"Assuming whoever he's bringing keeps him from getting lost, he should be here soon," Dedenne said. "He said he'd be here by the time of morning announcements. Whether that actually happens or not, we'll see."

"Not giving the Chief any credit, huh?" Light asked.

"I've been here long enough to know how the Chief works," Dedenne said. "He's a great leader, and you've seen him when he gets serious. I'll follow the Chief, and everyone else here will say the same. But he has no sense of direction and when things aren't serious he's…you know."

"Well, we can hope," Light said.

While waiting, he took another look around the room. At that back of the room, right next to the staircase that lead to the second floor, was a new hole in the wall. While it was too dark there to see, Light knew that was where the medical wing was built. Standing in front of it and chatting were Buizel, Archen, and Bunnelby, the later looking worn down this morning.

"I'm kinda surprised it took so long for us to get a doctor anyways," Light said. "You guys have been together for how long without one?"

"Yeah, you'd think the Expedition Society would have doctors lining up to work for us!" Fennix said.

"We're influential, but not that influential," Dedenne said. "Despite how much you build us up, Fennix, we're still not that large yet. We're well known enough throughout the world, but we are still a newer organization. That's why we had Lively Town's doctors help us out when we needed it. But now we have someone who works for us able to do that, which will be really nice. And less expensive."

"Yeah, I guess it makes things a little easier," Fennix agreed.

"And helloooo to you all," Ampharos's voice.

Everyone's attention was immediately turned to entrance where the yellow electric sheep came walking in. Their chief walked in with a confident smile on his face and his golden Expedition Society badge shining at the top-right corner of the white fur on his belly and chest. Once he knew he had everyone's attention, Ampharos struck a pose.

"The Dashing Wanderer is back!" Ampharos said.

"Welcome back, Chief," Mawile said.

"Welcome back!" everyone else except for Fennix repeated after her.

Fennix, instead, was looking around at the entrance to see any trace of the new Pokémon that was joining them. After a few seconds, Light looked to, curious as to where they were, since they saw no other Pokémon around. He thought of the possibility that the Pokémon was so tiny and hiding under Ampharos's fur, though, so he waited patiently for an answer. However, his partner was no so patient.

"So, where's the new Pokémon?" Fennix asked.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," said a voice from behind Ampharos.

Eventually, from the entrance, came the small new Pokémon. As Light saw the Pokémon, he recognized which species it was immediately. She was a hedgehog-like Pokémon with a white body and green grass-like fur on her back. On both sides of her head, just behind her white ears were two pink flowers. Light recognized the Pokémon as the Mythical Pokémon shaymin.

"Another Mythical Pokémon?" Jirachi asked. "Really?"

Light chuckled at Jirachi's outburst. "Dedenne, is there something about this place that attracts Mythical Pokémon? First Jirachi, then Mew for a few days, and now a shaymin. I don't think three Mythical Pokémon meeting in once place is exactly that common."

"I…don't know," Dedenne said, her words slow from shock. "I really don't know."

"So my friend, would you like to introduce yourself?" Ampharos asked the shaymin.

The shaymin sighed, but did so anyways. "Hello. Yes, I'm a Mythical Pokémon. Faster you get over that, the better. I'm not interested in getting any special treatment just because I am one. Otherwise, I'm here to heal you guys, not to socialize. So don't expect much chatting from me. I'm not here to listen to your life's story anymore then I'm interested in any of you hearing mine. Also, if you're going to refer to me, call me Amaranth. Not Doctor Amaranth or even Doctor Shaymin. I'm don't care for fancy titles. If I so much as hear Doctor come from your lips, I'll ignore you."

"She sounds…uncomfortable," Fennix whispered.

"Sounds like a pain if you ask me," Dedenne whispered back.

"I wonder what her story is," Light said. "Because most shaymin I've met are much more cheerful and happy than she is. I know she said she's not interested in talking about it, but I'm kinda curious why she's the way she is."

"Can introductions be over already so I can get to business?" Amaranth asked Ampharos. "You've already given me a basic idea of who everyone is, and I'll eventually be forced to get to know them anyways, so we might as well not waste time."

"Sorry Amaranth, but introductions are part of your inauguration into the Expedition Society," Ampharos told her. "Besides, these are the Pokémon you'll be working with so you should get to know them a bit before that happens."

Amaranth sighed. "Figures," she said. The shaymin looked back at the rest of the Expedition Society. "Alright, fine. But make it quick."

The Expedition Society memebers were silent for a few seconds due to Amaranth's abrasive attitude. Light couldn't blame them, as he wasn't sure what to make of the Pokémon in front of them either. However, Fennix recovered quickly and it didn't take long for her to break the silence in the room. The Fire-type did a twirl, grabbing her badge with her right paw while she did so, before posing with her right paw extended as far as possible, Expedition Society Badge shown off proudly.

"I'm the Fiery Spirit, Fennix!" the fennekin said cheerfully, ignoring the disinterested look Amaranth gave her. "I'm one half of Team Rebirth, a team dedicated to both exploring the world and helping other Pokémon out through the Connection Orb! It's nice to meet you!"

Light figured with that, he should go next. "And I'm the Luminescent Blade, Light," the pikachu said, tripping over his title a bit as he wasn't ignorant of Amaranth's look. "I'm the other half of Team Rebirth. If you need help with anything, just let me know and I'll try my best to help you."

Light stood back so that the rest of the Expedition Society could introduce themselves. While they were doing so, though, he couldn't help but feel his own embarrassment over his introduction. The title Fennix gave him wasn't one he normally found embarrassing to say, but the look of disinterest he saw on Amaranth's face didn't help him at all.

 _I almost feel like she doesn't want to be here,_ Light thought. _Maybe I'm just wrong, but she doesn't look like she's interested at all in being here. But if that's true, then why did she join in the first place? Or why did Ampharos let her join?_

The rest of the Expedition Society introduced themselves and when they were all done, Light could have sworn he saw Amaranth breathe a sigh of relief. "Alright, now onto business," Amaranth said. "By the end of today there will be a sign-up sheet above the medical wing door. I want each of you to sign up for some time to meet with me sometime next week. I know many, if not all of you, have had some sort of rudimentary inspection by Lively Town Medical, so you might think this is redundant or something, but I want to do an inspection myself to ensure I have a handle on your various situations, should I need that knowledge. That will be all for now."

And with that, Amaranth passed through the crowd of Expedition Society members and walked towards the newly built medical wing, which was located to the right of the staircase leading to the second floor. Everyone silently watched her walk in before closing the door, isolating herself from the rest of the crew. And, if Light had to guess, that was something that she would continue doing while she worked there.

"Well that was…kinda unpleasant," Dedenne said.

"Maybe she's just shy," Fennix suggested. "I'm sure after working here for a while, she'll be much nicer!"

 _If you say so, Fennix,_ Light thought to himself. _But I don't know, I think something's up. I still can't shake the feeling that she's not interested in working here. Which makes me wonder, why?_

* * *

 **Author's Note: Hello ! Finally able to get to an author's note since this is a brand new fanfiction for this site, instead of just past stuff I'm submitting here. Anyways, I do hope you all enjoy this chapter of _Amaranth_!**

 **So for those of you who read my Explorers fic, you would know that I already have a Shaymin main character. So you might be wondering why I am using one in this fic too. Well, don't worry viewers, I do have my reasons and I didn't just chose this character to be a Shaymin because I like them (though I can't pretend that wasn't a reason). All will be revealed soon.**

 **So I thank you all for reading this and have a nice day!**

 **Beta reader is TheGOAT**


	2. Doctor's Visit

Amaranth's interaction with everyone was about as scarce as Light expected it to be. During the day, there were only two times he ever saw her: during morning announcements and at dinner. Between those, she simply disappeared beyond the door to the medical wing. As such, Light hadn't so much as heard her voice since when she was first introduced.

However, as she said she would, a sign-up sheet was posted on the door and everybody from the Expedition Society signed-up as she asked. Since Light decided to ask Fennix to do it for the both of them, Fennix did. She signed them both up for the same time at the same day. The pikachu sighed when he saw that, but didn't expect anything less from his partner.

As such, Light knew that Amaranth was talking with some Pokémon, even if it wasn't himself or his partner as of yet. So one day, after Buizel was done with his inspection, he and Fennix tracked him down in the assembly hall to see what he had to say about the shaymin.

"So…how was it?" Light asked as the first question.

"Honestly, better than I thought it would be," Buizel answered. "Yeah, she made a lot of snarky comments during it, but she was actually surprisingly professional otherwise. I might not like her, but at least we're in good paws."

"That's…good to hear, I guess," Light said.

"Oh come on, Light, you're not giving her enough credit," Fennix said. "If she didn't want to work here, she wouldn't. Ampharos isn't the type to force someone to work for him if they don't want to. We all made the choice to work here, and I'm sure she did the same."

"I can't say I blame, Light," Buizel said. "She's does sort of have that feel of not really being happy here. I'm not really sure why, though."

After that was said, both went on their own way to their various tasks. However, all throughout their various Expeditions, the topic that most came up between Light and Fennix was Amaranth. Light wasn't sure if 'excited' was the right word he felt for their eventually meeting soon, but he did at least know he wanted to get to that day as soon as possible.

* * *

Eventually, that day finally came where Light and Fennix were scheduled for their inspection. As such, they both stood outside the closed door of the medical wing, waiting for when the shaymin inside would open up the door and let them in. Fennix was shaking in excitement while Light was shivering in anticipation.

"…Alright, the two of you can come in," Amaranth's voice stated from beyond the door. The door itself swung open with Psychic, allowing the two to walk in.

As Light walked in, he took a good look around the place, since this was his first time in the medical wing. It was smaller than he was expecting it to be. The walls were the same earthy color that the rest of the building had, but the floors were painted white. There was both a desk that held various equipment on it and a bed inside the room, the desk on the left side and a bed on the right. Beyond both of those were another door that was closed. It was through that door that Amaranth walked out of.

"You know, when I told everyone to sign-up for inspections, I expected everyone to sign-up separately," Amaranth said. "Not having two Pokémon sign-up at once. While you are both on the same team, I'm pretty sure you're separate entities from each other."

"Uhh…sorry?" Fennix said, a questioning look on her face.

"Don't be," Amaranth said in an uncaring manor. "I'm just surprised is all. I never thought I'd find two Pokémon who were so interested in the intimate details of each other's bodies. And so young too. I'm amazed you're both willing to listen to all the embarrassing details about each other. But I guess that is your choice."

Light could feel his face heating up with the implications, and a side glance showed a blush on Fennix's face as well. "Alright, I'll go first! You wait outside please!" Light and Fennix both said to each other at the same time.

Amaranth outright laughed at what she saw. "Alright you two, I was kidding," she said. "I actually wanted you both here at the same time for this specific visit with me. But for future appointments, and yes this _will_ be a regular thing…" Light looked to his right to see Fennix had her mouth open with no sound coming out, likely because Amaranth just answered her question, "I recommend coming alone, or I will make good on my promise."

"So, you actually wanted to see us both together?" Light asked. "Why?"

"Ampharos has already told me about you two," Amaranth said. "The human turned into a pikachu and the Mew turned into fennekin. I know about both your…unique situations and that's what I want you both in here to discuss."

Light and Fennix both took a step back, their mouths open wide. "You know about us?!" they both asked at the same time.

Amaranth sighed. "Geez, maybe my earlier comment about you two being the same entity wasn't too far off," she said softly. Louder so the two kids could hear her she said, "Yes, I know about you. Of course I do. I'm supposed to be your doctor. These are the type of things I need to know to do my job effectively. Now then…"

Amaranth walked closer. "I'm sure most of what you've learned about yourself has been learned by basic instinct. But here are some basic things you two need to know. Light, your cheeks are where your electric sacs are hidden. So keep them as clean as possible. Filth in those red cheeks will block electricity and make your electric attacks weaker. I've heard it sucks putting water so close, but it's better than filth."

"I…never thought of it," Light said.

"I don't know why Dedenne didn't tell you that, since it's the same for her," Amaranth said, back in her uncaring voice. "Her electric signals are dependent on it. But whatever. So long as you know."

Next, Amaranth turned her attention to Fennix, but the fennekin spoke first. "Yeah, I know," she said. "If I get too cold, I need to warm up or my fire attacks will be weak."

"True, but not what I wanted to say," Amaranth said. "You want to do the same with your ears. Be careful while cleaning them, obviously, since your weak to water, but keep the fur in your ears as clean as possible. That's where fennekin vent excessive hot air and if it's clogged up, it can lead to sickness and overheating. So keep it clean, because you do not want to know how we treat that."

"G-got it," Fennix said, taking a step back in fear.

"Is that all you wanted to talk to us about?" Light asked.

"Pfft, hardly," Amaranth said. "But a lot more of what I want you two to know about your individual species will come sometime later. That's just the most important thing I wanted you to know to prevent any further health issues in case you didn't. Now on to the meat of why I actually wanted you here."

"That…sounds like a lot," Light said. "Does me being once being a human and Fennix once being a Mew really make that much of a difference?"

"Unfortunately, your guess is as good as mine," Amaranth said. "The existence of humans in general is apparently widely contested, let alone the existence of humans who have transformed into Pokémon. You're not going to see in any medical textbook in the world anything about humans turned Pokémon. So you're essentially an enigma. Congratulations."

"He's…an enigma?" Fennix asked.

The shaymin nodded. "Yep," she said. "We basically, we know absolutely nothing about Light medically. What type of diseases he might carry, how he will change developmentally later on in life, whether he can procreate…"

"Procreate?" both Light and Fennix asked at the same time, causing Amaranth's eyes to snap open.

"Never mind that last one!" she said quickly and loudly. "My point is, there's only so much we know about Light. He could be completely normal, or something entirely unexpected could happen. We don't completely know as of right now. I haven't heard of anything unexpected happening to other humans who turned into Pokémon, but it's difficult to tell."

"Others?!" Light and Fennix both asked at the same time at the tidbit Amarant gave. "There are others?!"

"Yeah, it happens all the time," Amranth said nonchalantly before walking to her desk.

"Jirachi said the same thing once," Fennix mentioned. To Amaranth she said, "Have you met any?"

"Doesn't matter," Amaranth said without even looking at Fennix. "We're here for an examination, not a chat. Now, on to you."

Amaranth walked back up to Fennix. "For you, it's a bit easier to at least guess what might happen. After all, you were once a Pokémon. A Mythical Pokémon, sure, but a Pokémon nevertheless. And you've been 'severed from Mew's spirit' or whatever the heck that means."

"B-basically," Fennix said, "I disappeared because Dark Matter was created by the ancient Pokémon, including Mew, and when it was defeated it's shards rained down on the world, becoming a part of the ancient Pokémon living there. I disappeared when Dark Matter disappeared, because I was Mew too. But I also grew my own spirit and became Fennix in a way. So, to come back, I lost the parts that were Mew and became just Fennix."

"I know all that already," Amaranth said. "Ampharos told me."

"S-sorry I just…"

Amaranth sighed. "Sorry. I should have been clearer with you. What I meant was, we don't exactly know what you being 'severed from Mew's spirit' actually means for you. How much of latent part of Mew's soul left in your heart affect you even as a fennekin. It's a large open question, one largely unanswerable if everything I've heard is correct. Luckily, we can at least predict a few things."

"Like what?" Light asked.

"Since Mew was a Psychic-type, and especially since the fennekin line has access to Psychic-type moves and becomes a Psychic-type on your final form, I imagine you'll have a lot stronger Psychic moves than normal," Amaranth explained. As an example, she used Psychic to move a clipboard from her desk over to her. "You're Psybeam and Psychic are probably stronger than an average fennekin's, though not as strong as a Psychic-type's. It's possible you could even learn moves you wouldn't normally be able to. But don't expect too much. I doubt you'd be able to do anything that a delphox can't."

"That sounds cool!" Fennix said excitedly. "I might be able to learn moves a fennekin normally can't? That'd be awesome."

Amaranth just shrugged. "Could. That'd depend. The thing with both of you is since neither of you were born the way most Pokémon were, we have no clue about things like genetics with you two either."

"Genetics?" Light asked.

"Oh boy, this is gonna be fun," Amaranth said sarcastically. She walked to her desk and grabbed a poster from it with Psychic. With that, she walked back and rolled it out on the floor in front of the two kids. They both looked over to see that it was a blank family tree.

"What's that for?" Fennix asked.

"Demonstrative purposes," Amaranth said. "So, which one of you wants a pretend family?"

"I'll…go," Light said. He quickly glanced at Fennix, seeing the slight falling of her ears. She still tried to smile as usual, but he could see her ears slightly droop.

"Crap, touchy subject, huh?" Amaranth said, seeing Fennix's face droop as well.

"Fennix was adopted by Carracosta back in Serene Village, but when she was a kid, she always wanted to know who her family was," Light said. "Which Pokémon abandoned her to be adopted by her Pops. Of course, we know now that she wasn't exactly born like most Pokémon but still…"

Amaranth had a look of actual deep thought and remorse on her face. "…Listen kid, I understand the feeling. It burns you up a little, asking yourself why you were abandoned. Whether your real parents just didn't want you. Why your parents didn't want you. Don't ask yourself those questions, though. Especially because of how you were actually brought into this world. Instead, think about the amazing Pokémon who raised you."

"I…I do," Fennix said. "I love my Pops."

"Good," Amaranth said with a serious face. "After all, even if some Pokémon abandoned you, then screw them. They're the jerks that didn't bother taking care of their own kid. So they don't deserve to even look at you."

Light took a step back. "Are…you okay?" he asked.

She turned to face Light. "So, we'll do you then." Amaranth said, getting back onto the earlier subject without answering Light's question or even referencing what just happened.

With her psychic powers, Amaranth placed a picture of three pikachu on the family tree. "I'm not going to go into details for two Pokémon like you, but there's a basic rule when it comes to Pokémon like you," Amaranth said. "The mother passes on the species while the father has the chance to pass on move one wouldn't normally be able to learn."

On the line above two of the Pokémon, Amaranth put four more Pokémon. Two of them were pikachu, but two of them were different Pokémon. One was an sylveon, the other a togetic.

"For most Pokémon, that rule really doesn't matter," Amaranth continued. "However, while a Pokémon finding love with another Pokémon of their species is common, there are many times where Pokémon will find love outside of their species. And it's not too uncommon for that to happen either. So frankly, a truly pureblood Pokémon probably doesn't exist and any Pokémon who considers that a point of pride needs to be knocked down a few pegs."

Light and Fennix both gave each other a glance. In their eyes, an unspoken conversation happened where they both tried to remember if anyone they ever met took any pride in it. After a few seconds, they concluded that they never heard anyone ever say anything like that, not even the worst jerks they had to deal with, and wondered why the shaymin was even mad about something like that.

"As such, moves are often passed down from generation to generation, latent within a Pokémon's genes," Amaranth finished. "For example, in this imaginary tree, Light would have the possibility of learning Disarming Voice from a sylveon ancestor and Wish from the togetic ancestor. The genepool that would allow you to learn those moves would possibly be latent in your genes."

Light had the most confused expression on his face, something he and Fennix shared. "So…I could learn moves a pikachu wouldn't normally know based on what ancestors I have?" Light asked.

"Yes, exactly," Amaranth said. "Possibly. The farther back you go, though, the less likely those genetics are still there. Now on to the point. You two have to have the biology and genetics of a pikachu and fennekin in order to be who you are. That much is clear. What isn't clear is whether you're both pureblood or whether you have genes from other Pokémon in you. Whether because of what you were as a human and Mew or something given to you two as you were transformed to help you."

"Why does this…matter exactly?" Fennix asked.

"To you two, it probably doesn't much," Amaranth said. "However, as Expedition Society members, it'd be best to figure out if there are other moves you can learn. It could help you on future Expeditions. And as your doctor, I need to know this in case there are any diseases that are common among your bloodline. There shouldn't be anything too dangerous, but it's nice to know regardless."

Amaranth specifically looked at Fennix. "I can at least guess for you something, since it's something a lot of Psychic-types deal with. And I want you to memorize this, because it could be the difference between life and death. If you have a long headache, like you get one at night and it continues until morning or you get one in the morning that lasts until the end, warn me immediately! I don't care what I'm in the middle of or what you're in the middle of, warn me! Understand! This is important!"

"Y-yeah," Fennix said.

"Light, you remember it too!" Amaranth said. "This is important!"

"I get it, it's important," Light said, though he was unsure about why.

"I don't want to worry you too much," Amaranth said. "Spend too much time describing possible illnesses and you'll eventually think you're always getting them. Especially for kids like you. I just want you to know that just in case. Trust me, you'll thank me later."

Light rubbed the back of his head with his left paw. "…Alright," he said, still unsure. "Anything else?"

"Right now, no," Amaranth said. "I've covered the basics of what I want you two to know. When sign-ups for the next exams come in the next month, then we'll discuss thing relating to your species in further detail."

"Alright…" Fennix said.

So Light and Fennix both took their leave. Waiting in the meeting room outside was Buizel, his eyes glancing at the two kids as soon as they got outside. Both parties walked together towards the center of the room to talk to each other.

"So, what'd you guys think?" Buizel asked.

"She was…interesting," Light said. "She seems really…I don't know. I don't know how to describe her, really."

"She could be nice when she wanted to, but also really mean when she wanted to," Fennix said. "She was really smart…but also kinda a jerk."

"Yeah, you gotta wonder what she's went through," Buizel said. "She seems like she's been through a whole lot, just the way she talks. Makes you wonder what her story is."

"She doesn't look the type to tell you about it," Light said. "But yeah, I wonder what happened to her too."

* * *

 **You ever have one of those times where you write a chapter that seems unimportant, but is probably the most important chapter of the story? This chapter doesn't advance the plot that much, however there is a lot here. We get a bit more on Amaranth, a bit more on future plot threads, things like that. There is a lot here despite it only being a visit to the doctor's.**

 **But next chapter, that's when the proverbial feces hits the rotating blades.**

 **Special thanks to TheGOAT for Beta reading**


	3. Emergency

Amaranth's interactions between the rest of the Expedition Society remained scarce after all of them were done with their initial checkups. Amaranth promised further checkups would be needed at a later point, but that was the last anyone heard her voice. She was naturally still around; she ate with everyone else and went to morning announcements like everyone else, but as soon as those were done she disappeared without talking to anyone else.

For a while, Light was perfectly find with leaving it as is. While he knew Fennix was extremely curious, they had other things to focus on. They had their day to day jobs of doing whatever needed to be done that day, mostly rescue missions or item deliveries as big explorations took time to plan out before doing them. And Light himself was thoughtful on Amaranth's suggestion for them to learn new moves, so he spent most of his free-time training, in hopes of learning one.

One day, though, a couple of weeks after both Light and Fennix's last meeting with Amaranth, Mawile lingered in the meeting room for a bit longer than usual and Fennix took this chance to ask the question that had been on her mind for weeks.

"Mawile, do you know anything about Amaranth?" Fennix asked the Expedition Society's unofficial second-in-command, knowing if anyone knew anything, it would be her.

"Yes, I do know a few things," Mawile said. "However, Amaranth has asked me not to divulge any information on that. She doesn't want the attention it will give her."

And, before any other question could be asked, Mawile left for her lodging upstairs. This left Light, Fennix, Archen, Buizel, and Dedenne in a circle around the meeting room to talk about it. Fennix, still extremely curious, focused herself on Dedenne next.

"You know anything, Dedenne?" Fennix asked. "You're in charge of communications. You must have heard something, right?"

"I know Ampharos didn't leave the continent to find her," Dedenne said. "But I don't know exactly where he went or who he met with. I'm not even entirely sure where he found Amaranth in the first place. He wanted to do this alone, which I thought was a terrible idea, but he managed. So other than telling you that she was on this continent, I can't really help you."

"That…doesn't exactly help," Buizel said.

"Well what do you want me to say?!" Dedenne asked. "He didn't use the Expedition Gadgets to communicate with her while recruiting her, so I wouldn't really know anything you guys don't. Though…" Dedenne trailed off for a few seconds.

"Though?" Light asked.

"I think it took a long time before he was finally able to recruit her," Dedenne said. "I'm pretty sure this has been something he's been working on for a while. Not sure why, though. Or what exactly he went through."

"A long time, huh," Buizel said, crossing his flippers together as he thought.

"I can't imagine why," Archen said. "Unless she had something she needed to do before she could come."

"I don't know why we're standing here talking about it," Light said. "It's not like any of us are going to figure it out just by talking with each other. I'm sure if we need to know, we'll eventually find out. Besides, as long as she's a good doctor, it shouldn't really matter, shouldn't it?"

"Oh come on, Light, where's your sense of mystery and adventure?" Fennix asked.

"Overwhelmed by my desire not to push her for answers she doesn't want to give," Light answered. "I'm just as curious as you guys are, and I do want to ask her more, but she clearly doesn't want to tell us right now. Sorry Fennix, but that's that."

"Then I guess that's that," Dedenne said repeated. "You guys should start your jobs now anyways. We've been talking too much."

"Yeah, it's about time," Light said. "Let's head off, Fennix."

However, just as Light and Fennix turned around and looked at the entrance, a group of four familiar Pokémon came running through the entrance of the Expedition Society Building, all of them looking ragged and tired, their breath coming in pants and wheezes. As soon as Light and Fennix saw and recognized them, the two ran up to those four.

"Deerling, Goomy, Pancham, Shelmet!" Light yelled as he saw four of the children from their old home in Serene Village.

"What are you four doing here?" Fennix asked.

"L-Light…F-fennix," Deerling groaned as she trudged closer to the two kids.

"E-espurr," Pancham moaned.

However, that was it from the four of them. They weren't able to say anything else before all four of them collapsed on the ground, their fatigue knocking them out. And it was at that point in time, with Pancham's one word, that Light noticed Espurr wasn't with the group. However, there was more important things to worry about. Light felt his heart sink into his chest and he almost couldn't breathe, all he could was walk forward towards Deerling to look at the kids.

"Dedenne, get Amaranth out here!" Buizel said, luckily able to take action where Light couldn't. "Quick!"

"On it!" Dedenne said. She closed her eyes and her wired cheeks started sparking as she communicated with Amaranth's Expedition Device.

While Dedenne was doing that, Buizel and Archen joined Light and Fennix at inspecting the four schoolkids. Light looked at Deerling, Buizel at Pancham, Archen at Shelmet, and Fennix at Goomy. The kids didn't have anything that looked too dangerous on them; a couple of bumps and bruises here and there but nothing that seemed to be dangerous. Though Goomy in particular looked deflated, which worried Light a lot when he gave the kid a glance. That, and when Light placed his paw to Deerling's side, she felt a little too warm to him.

"Got any idea what happened to them?" Buizel asked while they waited for Amaranth.

"My best guess is they took a trip from Serene Village to here without stopping," Light speculated, finally finding his voice again. "So they're probably just exhausted. Only that sorta begs the question of…"

"Why?" Archen asked the question before Light.

"They said something about Espurr," Fennix mentioned. "And Espurr isn't here. Do you think something might have happened to her?"

"Something that needed them to rush over here?" Light asked. "This badly? Makes me worried about what could have possibly happened to her."

"I guess we won't know until these guys wake up," Archen said.

It was at that point in time when Amaranth came bursting out of the medical wing and rushed over to the four collapsed Pokémon. The shaymin had a serious look on her face as she looked over the four kids. She inspected them for a few seconds before turning to face the four Expedition Society members.

"Alright, those that can hold them however you can, get these four into the office, now," Amaranth said. "Once we get there, Buizel, I want you to get some water on the shelmet, goomy, and deerling. Their species dehydrate a lot more quickly and they need water, stat. I'll get an energy drip for pancham."

Amaranth walked her way towards the medical wing, using Psychic to lift and carry Pancham with her as she walked away. Goomy was light enough that Light was able to carry him, though the pikachu squirmed a little while doing so. True to his name, Goomy was rather slimy and a little sticky. His goo was also rather lukewarm, which made Light wonder whether it was supposed to be colder if he was healthier.

But Light managed to bring him in regardless, and both Deerling and Shelmet were also brought in behind him. Deerling, Shelmet, and Goomy were all placed in one spot in the center of the doctor's office with Buizel looking over the three of them. He looked up into the sky and used a small Water Gun into the air to sprinkle down on the three Pokémon.

While he was doing that, Light looked over at Pancham and Amaranth to see what they were doing. Pancham was lied down on the medical bed and Amaranth was at her desk grabbing some sort red liquid. She took that liquid with Psychic and walked with it to Pancham. Using Psychic, she opened Pancham's mouth and placed a few drops of the liquid in.

"What is that stuff?" Light asked.

"I call it an Energy Drip," Amaranth said. "It's basically a mix of Apple, Oran Juice, and an Elixir. Sounds like it'd be good for explorations, but in all honest it has a really powerful and…honestly terrible taste. It's good for a pick-me-up for patients but not good out in the field."

"So, it'll help them?" Light asked.

"This should help them, at least," Amaranth said. "They need rest, though. Their bodies are exhausted and need rest to recuperate. What we did will just help quicken that recuperation. After all, there's apparently something they need to tell us about, right?"

"Something about our friend Espurr," Fennix said.

"Espurr…she's that same girl that helped us during the Dark Matter incident, wasn't she?" Buizel asked. "We only really saw her after everything was over, but she seemed like a decent kid. Wonder what could have happened to her?"

"I wouldn't worry about it," Amaranth said nonchalantly.

"Really?!" Fennix yelled angrily at the shaymin. Light had to pause for a moment at how sudden that outburst was, especially for someone who had been constant in justifying, or at least questioning, Amaranth's behavior previously. "Our friend could be in danger or hurt and you say we shouldn't worry about it?!"

"And what's worrying about it helping you?" Amaranth asked in a cold voice as she glared at Fennix. "You could try going to Serene Village, but these kids will probably wake up before you'd even get there, if I'm right at how long a walk would be from here to there. So there's nothing you can do right now. Yes, that sucks, but that's how it is. Worry about your friend when you find out what's actually happening, not before. Until then, you're not doing anything by worrying. So you might as well not. It's better for your mental health not to worry until it's needed."

"B-but…" Fennix stuttered out.

"The fact still is that Espurr isn't here and that the rest of our friends ran all the way here, without rest, to tell us something about her," Light said, trying to defuse the argument. "They're not going to do that if we don't have something to worry about. So Fennix has every right to."

"But once again, what can we do right now?" Amaranth asked. The shaymin closed her eyes and sighed. "Sorry, let me explain myself. I get that you're worried. But as of right now, you don't even know what the problem is, let alone how to fix it. So instead of worrying, how about trying to do something productive with your time."

"Productive?" Light and Fennix both asked.

"If it's something medical, I can be of assistance," Amaranth said. "Not like I've got anything better to do today, anyways. But if it's something else, then you two should get ready for an exploration. Head out to the Deposit Box and Kecleon's Market and make sure you have some supplies ready just in case. That's something you can do to help. Waiting around here? Not so much."

"She's…got a point," Light sighed.

"Fine…we'll go," Fennix said.

Despite the fact that neither of them really wanted to leave their friends just lying there on the floor, Light and Fennix left the medical wing and out of the Expedition Society. Once they left the building, Fennix left out a huff of anger, a puff of smoke coming out of her mouth as she did so. Light didn't even have to look in her eyes to tell she was angry.

"Amaranth is…interesting," Light said.

"It's like she doesn't even care!" Fennix said, nearly spitting fire as she did so. "'Don't worry because it's useless.' Of course I'm going to worry! I don't care if 'it's pointless'! She's my friend!"

"I…get where she's coming from," Light said. "Spending time in there worrying isn't really helping us much. It is a good idea for us to go and get supplies, just in case. But…I wish she wasn't callous about it, either. I'm just as worried for Espurr as you are."

"For now, what do you think we need?" Fennix asked.

"If Espurr got trapped in a dungeon, we're going to need exploration supplies," Light suggested. "We should also bring extra Oran Berries just in case. If Espurr needs healing, it might be nice to bring some for her."

"I guess," Fennix said. "Amaranth did say she was going to bring medical supplies just in case."

"Which shows that she at least somewhat cares," Light mentioned. "I don't know, it's hard to really tell with her. But she is willing to help."

"Let's just grab some supplies and get back!" Fennix said.

So Light and Fennix quickly filled Light's bag with various supplies before heading back to the Expedition Society's medical wing. By the time they went back there, the four schoolkids were still sleeping, but they were at least all put in comfortable positions on some straw beds in the center of the room. Ampharos had also joined the rest of the Pokémon in the room, looking over the two kids.

"Hi, we're back," Light said. He and Fennix looked over at Amaranth. "Any change with those four?"

"If there was, don't you think we would have told you already?" Amaranth asked.

"Well sorry," Fennix said sarcastically.

"How much longer, do you think?" Light asked.

"Shouldn't be too much longer," Amaranth said as she walked up to the school kids. "Their heartrates have gone back to normal, Goomy's body temperature is as cold as it's supposed to be, and I haven't found any other physical problems with them. Once they're fully rested, they should be able to wake up. Then we can tell what brought them here in the first place."

"So we gotta wait?" Fennix asked.

Amaranth rolled her eyes. "Surprisingly, healing doesn't happen instantly. Either wait here patiently so you can be the first to hear about it, or get out of my office and go find something productive to do."

Light wordlessly walked over to the circle surrounding the kids and sat there, hoping Fennix would follow his actions. And the fennekin eventually did, though she did so with a huff of smoke and complained to herself under her breath. However, they waited regardless. And it was quite a lengthy wait. Time ticked on for a while as the Pokémon waited for the schoolkids to regain consciousness. At one point, Dedenne and Archen excused themselves to leave and do their jobs, leaving Light, Fennix, Ampharos, and Buizel to wait.

However, eventually one of the kids did stir. Deerling, specifically, twitched her hooves for a few seconds and a moan came out from her mouth, causing everyone to focus on her. Eventually, she opened her tired eyes and took a look around. Once her eyes glanced over Light and Fennix, she quickly got on her hooves and walked closer to the two. She collapsed soon after, though, but didn't lose consciousness at least.

"Don't push yourself, Deerling," Light said.

"L-Light, Fennix. Where am I?" Deerling asked.

"You're in the Expedition Society's new medical office," Light said. "We brought you here when you collapsed."

"What happened?" Fennix asked, walking in front of Light. "Pancham mentioned Espurr. What happened to her? Is she hurt?"

"W-we're not sure," Deerling said. "Something just happened to her and…and we really don't know what or how…she just."

"Something?" Light asked, walking to Fennix's side.

"S-she collapsed last afternoon!" Deerling said.

"Collapsed?!" Light and Fennix asked at the same time.

Amaranth cleared her throat, turning attention to herself. As Light looked left to see Amaranth, he noticed that she was levitating a clipboard over her face that blocked her from viewing Deerling. The Normal/Grass-type looked confused at the shaymin before glancing back at Light and Fennix for clarity.

"She's Amaranth, our new doctor," Light explained.

So deerling looked at Amaranth and began explaining herself the best she could. "Well, it started a few days ago," Deerling said. "Espurr mentioned that she had a headache. But when Nurse Audino checked up on her, she found nothing wrong. So we thought it'd go away with time. But she still had it the next day. And she said it kept getting worse before suddenly, last night, she collapsed. Nurse Audino can't figure out what's wrong with her, but Espurr looks like she's in terrible pain. So we need your help."

Amarnath quickly dropped her clipboard, her eyes on the floor. "…Headaches?" Amaranth whispered to herself. "That have been increasing recently." She raised her head back up and looked directly at Light. "Light! This Espurr is an actual espurr, right? Not another Pokémon with the name of Espurr?"

"Yeah, of course she is," Light said.

Amaranth clenched her teeth together before focusing her eyes on Ampharos. "Chief, we need Warp Orbs targeted to Serene Village, stat! As soon as possible!"

"Is it that serious?" Ampharos asked.

Amaranth looked like she wanted to respond sarcastically, but she stopped herself. "No Ampharos, I want to use rare Orbs to travel just for the fun of it. Yes, very serious," she said. "We don't have time to even walk there. That's why I want some Warp Orbs here to transport me and Team Rebirth to Serene Village as soon as physically possible."

"Only Light, Fennix, and you?" Deerling asked. "But what about me, Goomy, Pancham, and Shelmet?"

"Considering you weren't able to walk more than three steps without collapsing, you're in absolutely no state to be going anywhere," Amaranth said without catching Deerling's eyes. "And your three friends haven't even woken up yet. Plus it's heavily not recommended you go through the process of being warped while fatigued. Sorry, but you're saying here until you're rested up."

"Do not worry, dear Deerling," Ampharos said. "Once you are all recovered, the Expedition Society will ensure you are escorted back to Serene Village. And by then, hopefully Light, Fennix, and my good friend Amaranth will have made sure little Espurr is well again. I promise that on my name as…" Ampharos posed, "The Dashing Wanderer!"

"F-fine," Deerling said. She looked Light and Fennix in the eyes. "Please, make sure Espurr is okay."

"We will," Fennix promised.

"Of course we will," Light said.

"Buizel, keep an eye on the kids," Amaranth said.

"Since when was I in charge of babysitting?" Buizel asked.

"Since you decided to stick around here, instead of doing your job," Amaranth said. "Team Rebirth, let's go."

So Light, Fennix, and Amaranth all walked out of the medical wing while Ampharos left to grab some Warp Orbs. Amaranth took them all to the entrance where the Warp Orb could be used. That's where they decided to wait for when the items were delivered. While they were there, the ever impatient Fennix asked a question.

"So, is Espurr in danger?" the fennekin asked Amaranth.

"I'd need to check to make sure, but I'd say 'in danger' is an understatement," Amaranth said. "If my guess is right and nothing is changed…"

"Espurr might die."

* * *

 **AN: And here we are, the main plot is finally starting so kick up. Yeah, while last chapter was important, it was mostly for the point of giving an idea of what Amaranth's regular interactions with the Society are, along with making several hints of things to come. Now, though, we're starting to reach the meat and potatoes of this fanfic. Next chapter we figure out what exactly is happening to Espurr.**

 **Beta read by TheGOAT**


	4. Psychica Mortem

Once the light from the Warp Orbs dissipated, Team Rebirth and Amaranth looked around to both make sure they made it to their destination, and to figure out where in Serene Village they were if they did. It didn't take Light too long to figure that out, though. To their right was the yellow arch that stood as the village's main entrance and exit, Light could see Kecleon's market to the right of the path that lead to school, and to the left of that path was Kangaskhan's Café. He also knew that there would be a lake behind him if only they looked. There were a few of the residents around the square at the time, all of which Light gave a cordial wave to before focusing on the task at hand.

"Alright, we're here," Light said.

Fennix made a sound of disgust. "Ugg…I hate warping," she said in a nauseous tone.

"We're not entirely sure why warping messes up a Pokémon like this," Amaranth said, currently in her doctor mode. "We've at least confirmed that it doesn't do anything serious, but nausea and headaches are all too common from warping. The current theory is that it has something to do with transcending the dimensions needed to instantly warp from one place to another. But that's beside the point."

Amaranth faced to her left at Light. "We were told that Espurr would be at the schoolhouse. Where is that?"

Light pointed at the path they were facing. "We just need to follow this path," the pikachu said. "It's not too far."

"Good," Amaranth said. "Let's go. We need to hurry to the kid."

Amaranth ran in the direction Light pointed, the rest of Team Rebirth soon to follow. As Light remembered, the walk to school was something of a six-to-ten-minute walk, depending on how hurried the pikachu happened to be that day. However, their run got them there in only a few minutes, the brown arch with 'Serene Village School' quickly coming into view. Behind it stood a row of nine desks and a chalkboard and behind those were three buildings: the principal's office in the middle, teacher's lounge on the right, and infirmary on the left. The ground was covered in leaves colored yellow, red, and orange: the one difference between the school now and how Light remembered it.

A part of Light wanted to stop and take in the scenery. He had only been in school for about a month, but this was the place where he first found a community and first made friends with the yellow fire fox running to his left. But he knew full well that they didn't have time for reminiscence. So Light and Fennix quickly directed Amaranth to the infirmary and the trio all made a beeline for that building.

Inside was a rather somber scene. Espurr was lying on a bed in the middle of the room, her eyes clenched shut in pain. Her fur was all over the place and disheveled with bits of straw sticking out of various spots on her fur, suggesting she had tossed and turned quite frequently and for a long time in that bed. Surrounding her were several worried-eyed adults. The Principal, Simipour, the Vice-Principal, Watchdog, their main teacher, Farfetched, and the nurse, Audino, were all looking over her body with tears streaming down their faces. Along with that, there was one other adult in the room, one Fennix's eyes widened upon seeing.

"Pops!" Fennix said, her eyes drawn to the carracosta.

Fennix's outburst allowed the adults to know there were more Pokémon in the room. Their eyes glanced over both Light and Fennix before every adults' eyes glanced at the shaymin newcomer. Light took it on himself to step forward and explain.

"This is Amaranth," Light introduced. "She's the newest member of the Expedition Society and a doctor. When we heard from Deerling and the others about what happened, we came here with her to see if she could help."

"I hope you can help," Audino said. "I've tried examining her the best I can, but I simply can't figure out what's wrong with her."

"I heard a synopsis, and have an idea," Amaranth said. "Just give me a few seconds to look over her and I'll see if I'm right."

So the adults parted way to allow Amaranth the chance to look over Espurr. Amaranth's eyes glowed purple with a psychic aura before she closed them. She kept her eyes closed for a while, everyone else looking over her patiently. However, Amaranth remained motionless for quite a while. Fennix opened her mouth, likely to ask what was taking so long, but a look from Carracosta caused her to close her mouth. So everyone waited patiently for her to finally open her eyes.

"…Yep, it's just as I thought," Amaranth said when she opened them.

"What's happening to the poor girl?" Carracosta asked.

"…The only thing I can't figure out is how…" Amaranth whispered to herself, her eyes still on Espurr. Eventually, though, she looked back up at everyone. "I think I've got a good idea what's happening to her."

"Y-you do?" Audino asked. "Just like that? B-but how?"

"Don't feel too sorry for yourself," Amaranth said. "What's happening to her is probably not something you were ever taught. It wouldn't surprise me if your instructors don't even know what it is. It's an extremely rare disease that'd be almost unheard of in the Water Continent."

"What is it?!" Fennix asked impatiently.

"Psychica Mortem, more well known as Psychic Block," Amaranth said.

"'Psychica Mortem' means 'The death of a Psychic', does it not?" Carracosta asked.

"And now you know why we call it Psychic Block instead," Amaranth said. "But yes. That's what it was most known for before a cure was found for it. It was a very dangerous disease that effected mostly Psychic-types with a high mortality rate. Even now, it's still very dangerous."

"What is it?" Audino asked. "Why haven't I heard about it?"

"This is going to take a bit of explaining, so bear with me," Amaranth told everyone.

Amaranth used Psychic as a demonstration. "There's a specific part of a Pokémon's brain located in the frontal lobe that allows it to used Psychic-type moves," Amaranth said. "For Pokémon who are actually Psychic-types, it's a lot more developed then those that can just use Psychic-Type moves. Normally, psychic energy is built up in that part of the brain before being dissipated throughout the rest of the brain to allow us access to our moves. Sort of like how electricity is constantly being built up in an Electric-type's electric sacs."

"However, there are rare cases where something goes wrong, and that energy that's built up is not being sent through the brain properly. Instead it stays in that part of the brain. At that point, more and more psychic energy is built up, but none if it is able to escape. That's what Espurr is going through right now. We call it Psychic Block."

"The first phase of it is technically being unable to use Psychic-type moves, but a lot of Pokémon in more peaceful areas don't tend to notice that. The second phase is a massive headache that lasts for much longer than usual as the energy starts building more and more. Then collapsing as it reaches a terminal state. And, if left untreated, well…I'd rather not say what happens. It's not a pleasant thought."

A silence fell through the air as the implications of what Amaranth said fell over everyone. Light himself felt a massive pain in his chest as he realized what might happen. Espurr wasn't just sick, she didn't just have the small possibility of death, if what Amaranth said is true then Espurr would…

"How did she get such a condition?" Audino asked.

"That, I really don't know," Amaranth said. "I told you, it's not something they would expect you to know. That's because this sickness is more common in large cities, or places like that, where there are more Pokémon around to cause interference. Because heavy interference from other Psychic-types is one of the possible causes. But living in a village like this where there are what, maybe four or five in the entire village? It'd take maybe twice the population of this village to all be Psychic-types for there to be enough interference. I don't know how it happened, but it happened."

Light and Fennix both finally found their voices. "There's gotta be a way to heal it, right?!" Light and Fennix both asked at the same time. "You can heal her?"

Amaranth quickly glanced at the two kids before facing the adults again. "If caught early, it's rather easy to treat. At that point, it'd be easy to find and identify the problem since there isn't as much force built up. I could do it and I'm not even a Psychic-type. But this is not caught early. And if I tried it now…well, I doubt I'd get anywhere."

"Is it still curable at this state?" Carracosta asked.

"Yes…though I can't do it," Amaranth said. "Curing it still involves finding the problem and fixing it, but at this point there is a lot of psychic force inside her head. And that energy makes things difficult to detect what's wrong, let alone treat. Unless I somehow have a similar wavelength to her, which I most likely won't, I'd be basically fighting against the energy inside her head the entire time while trying to work. This is a very difficult operation and a single mistake can…cost her. Especially as a Pokémon who isn't a Psychic-type, I'd give it about a…20% chance of succeeding if I do it. And that's being extremely generous. Luckily, there is a way to do it."

Amaranth looked around. "So, where's the kid's parents? They'll have the closest wavelength to her and the highest chance of successfully helping her."

A long silence fell over the group after Amaranth said what she said. If it weren't for how horrible everything was, Light would have almost laughed at that point. He was still tempted to, if only because of how awkward the situation was. But he remained silent, and so did everyone else. Nobody had it in their hearts to tell her exactly what's happening.

Amaranth eventually sighed. "Do I even want to ask?"

"…Espurr lives alone," Light eventually said. "She's told us that she has no parents."

The shaymin groaned and placed a paw on her forehead. "Of course. Another child abandoned by her parents. I swear, life does not just want to go my way."

Light and Fennix stepped forward. "Espurr had to have some sort of parents, right?" Light asked. "She didn't just suddenly appear out of thin air. So, shouldn't someone know something about her?"

Carracosta and Simipour both looked at each other in the eyes before looking back at the rest of the group. "…Light, Fennix, and Amaranth too," Carracosta said. "I want you three to come with us. We'll speak about this elsewhere."

Simipour whispered a few things to Audino and Watchdog before he and Carracosta walked out of the infirmary hut. Light, Fennix, and Amaranth all followed them. They walked through the schoolyard once again before taking a hard left and heading towards the principal's office. Once there, Carracosta and Simisage turned around to look back at the three Expedition Society members.

"…I suppose we should tell you a little about Espurr," Simipour said. "If her parents are needed for the operation, then we should tell you what we know."

"Sounds like this'll be annoying," Amaranth mumbled. "Fine, what's up?"

"A family of Meowstic used to live in this village, a long time ago," Carracosta said. "Fennix, you've actually met them once, though that was so long ago that you probably forgot all about them. You were very young back then."

"I…met Espurr's parents?" Fennix asked. Light looked on her face as she tried to remember, but she eventually shook her head. "I…don't remember them at all."

"It doesn't surprise me," Carracosta said. "The two of them just appeared out of the blue in that house one day. Nobody's quite sure when they came, since they spent so much time in that house. We weren't even aware they had a daughter. I think it's quite foolish, doing what they did."

"And just as they came, they one day left," Simipour added. "Once again, nobody noticed for a while. They so scarcely interacted with everyone that nobody really noticed they left. I for one, was fine with them not really interacting with anyone. It was their choice and I was willing to respect that. But to leave like that, and leave a child all alone…"

"I'm not sure what lead me to look in," Carracosta said. "Probably curiosity, as even with how little I see them, they had been gone for a long time. But I eventually glanced into their house and saw neither of the meowstic that used to live there. Instead, there was a small Espurr making herself breakfast."

"That's when you first met Espurr," Light concluded.

"Yes," Carracosta said. "While nobody knew that the meowstic had a daughter, the implications of an espurr child living in the same houses they used to live in made it obvious who she was. However, missing was the two meowstic that used to be there. So I asked her where her parents went."

"Carracosta learned that Espurr's parents told her to hold the house while they were gone. And that happened a week ago," Simipour said. "We…attempted to find someone to take care of her. Someone to adopt her. There were many villagers who were willing to. I myself would have taken her into my home if I were given a choice. But…she was insistent. She refused to leave the house, believing her parents would come back. We tried but…"

"Espurr continued to foolishly refuse," Carracosta said. "She cried, begged, pleaded, screamed."

"Espurr did all that?" Light and Fennix both asked at the same time.

"She was much younger then," Simipour said. "Eventually, we agreed to let her stay there. She was self-sufficient enough to take care of herself, but we all still kept an eye on her just in case. And that's the story why Espurr lives alone."

"So, nobody knows where Espurr's parents are, is that right?" Amaranth asked.

"Unfortunately, no," Carracosta said. "As we mentioned before, the two meowstic disappeared one day without anyone noticing. And Espurr just thought they were going away for a bit. We don't know."

"That, and Espurr has unfortunately forgotten about that," Simipour said. "She remembers that she promised to hold the house, and I'm sure she's guessed what happened, but she honestly can't remember anything about her parents. Such a poor child, she holds so many burdens under her façade, burdens she never shares with anyone."

"I never knew," Fennix said breathlessly.

"This makes things…difficult," Amaranth said.

"Do you believe finding Espurr's parents is necessary for helping her?" Simipour asked.

"It's her best chance, anyways," Amaranth said. "I can't do it; I'm not even a Psychic-type. Her parents will have the closest Psychic wavelength to Espurr so would perform the operation. If we find them, I'd give her a good 90% chance at worst. If not…I can ask a Psychic-type I know and see if she can help. She lives in the Grass Continent so it'd take her a while to get here, but having a Pokémon of that type do the operation will increase the chances, but not by that much. It's best to find her parents."

"How long does Espurr have left?" Carracosta asked. "I can't imagine she has long enough for you guys to go on an Expedition."

"And you're right in a way," Amaranth said. "I'd give her until maybe tomorrow afternoon."

Light felt a chill fall down his spine at those words and the world around him grew dark for a moment. He couldn't think, couldn't breathe, couldn't do anything. He even felt his heart stop in his chest. The world spun around his head. He knew full well that Espurr was in danger before, but to hear exactly when it would happen, to know how limited Espurr's time was, caused him to pause. All he could do was stare wide-eyed at nothing in particular as the finality hit him. Espurr was going to die, and they didn't have enough time to do anything about it.

Eventually, though, a splash of cold soft water hit him, bringing him back to reality. "Thanks, Carracosta," Amaranth said. "Listen you two, I know this sounds bad, and I can understand you going into shock, but there is something I can do to prolong it."

"T-there is?" Fennix asked, her voice soft and vulnerable.

"Yes, there is," Amaranth said. "Not forever, but I can give her supplies. I've got the supplies I need in my storage."

Amaranth faced Light and Fennix. "While I'm gone, I want the two of you to call Ampharos and explain the situation. I doubt it, but with his connections he might be able to point us in the right direction to find Espurr's parents. We'll meet back in the infirmary."

"Alright!" both Light and Fennix said at the same time.

"We might not be able to do much, but we'll help as much as possible," Simipour promised. "Anything to make sure little Espurr is healed."

So all five Pokémon all walked off to do their respective tasks. While they all walked off, Light took another look at the infirmary. And he felt a small pain in his heart as he looked in that direction.

 _Espurr, just keep on fighting,_ Light thought. _We'll be there to help you soon. And…we might even reunite you with your parents._

* * *

 **AN: Sorry this took more then a week, but computer issues kinda suck.**

 **Anyways, here we go. Our main premise is now out there. A little bit of a sad one too. Poor little Espurr. But then again, why else would I involve Espurr and a doctor in the Prologue if something like this wasn't about to happen?**

 **This is actually probably one of the sadder things I wrote, too. There are a lot of very depressing implications of what could happen should this sickness continue, and none of them are good. But something like this does strike me as something that could very well happen to a Psychic-type. Something going wrong with their ability to use Psychic-type moves causing headaches, the inability to use them, and death.**

 **This won't be an entirely sad fanfic, though, so don't worry too much about that. I will give this the due tone it deserves, but I won't be all depressing all the time.**

 **Beta read by TheGOAT**


	5. First Searches

Light and Fennix both went back to the infirmary after telling Ampharos about the situation. Carracosta and the principal were all there first, naturally, while Amaranth was nowhere to be seen. So, the two were forced to wait for a while for the shaymin to finally show up. Light wasn't the type to be impatient—that was his Partner's job—but even he was starting to grow weary of waiting there for the shaymin, constantly listening to Espurr's grunts and groans of pain as her life slowly withered away.

"Where is she?" Fennix asked, tears in her eyes.

"Honestly, I want to know too," Light said. "Listening to Espurr like this…hurts a lot."

It took a bit longer, but eventually Amaranth walked through the door of the infirmary, a vial with some sort of sickly black liquid floating over her head. Everyone cleared out of the way in order to let Amaranth walk over to Espurr. And the shaymin did before sitting down in front of her.

"Ugg, I hate this part of the job," Amaranth said. "Force feeding my patients. But you gotta do what you gotta do."

So Amaranth opened Espurr's mouth up wide and placed the vial there. Light watched as the black liquid disappeared from the vial and into Espurr's digestion. A part of him was worried as to what was going down there, since the liquid didn't look particularly good and it was coming from someone he didn't altogether trust yet, but he waited in hopes that Espurr would get better.

After the vial was empty, Amaranth placed the vial in her medical bag before examining Espurr's head psychically once again. It took a few second, but she eventually gave a sigh of relief. Amaranth opened her eyes again and looked at everyone.

"That should do it," the shaymin said. "This'll keep her from producing more psychic energy that'll just get trapped in her head."

"What?" Fennix asked. "How?"

Amaranth looked at her. "Sorry, trade secret," Amaranth said. "I can't tell you about it."

"I…think I know what she's doing, and she's right," Nurse Audino said. "It's a secret among those in the medical profession. We can't talk about it, sorry."

"Thing is, even if we can wake her up, she won't be able to use any Psychic attacks," Amaranth said as she looked over her. "Nor will she be able to use telepathy or anything like that. Not only that, but when I called this a 'temporary solution', I meant it. Her head is still full to bursting. I added some pain medicine to help a bit, but it won't last forever. Give her about a week and she might die simply from mental fatigue."

Light felt another pang in his heart upon hearing that, but forced himself to pay close attention to what was going on for the sake of Espurr.

"You keep saying 'if we can wake her up,'" Carracosta mentioned. "Is that a possibility?"

"We'll probably need to," Amaranth said. She looked over at Light and Fennix. "Did the Chief mention anything to you two about Espurr's parents?"

"He'll look into it," Light said. "He said he had a lead he wanted to follow, and that's where he left us."

"Hopefully the lead is through the gadget and not through him physically finding something," Amaranth said. "The former means we'll learn soon. The later means we're on our own."

"Hey, he's not…that bad with directions," Fennix said.

Amaranth scoffed. "We got lost three times. And each time he stumbled around like the town drunk. I was worried we would never reach Lively Town with his guiding us. But that's beside the point."

Amaranth looked at Nurse Audino. "You have something like Heal Pulse, right? Use that on the patient while I use Aromatherapy. That should help wake her up."

"Alright," Audino said. "Anything I can do to help."

Audino closed her eyes and put her hands together, palms facing forward. She breathed slowly and steadily as a light appeared where her palms connected. The light poured out from there and all over Espurr. While she was doing that, Amaranth also closed her eyes. The green fur on her back started ruffling and a strong, but sweet, scent poured out from her. That sent surrounded Espurr and she began glowing. Eventually, both moves dissipated and Espurr stopped glowing. Once she did, though, the Restraint Pokémon opened her eyes.

"Uhhnnn…" Espurr moaned. She moved her eyes around to look at all the Pokémon surrounding her until her eyes rested to her right on Light and Fennix. "Light…Fennix…what happened? What's…going on?"

"You're sick," Light said as he and Fennix walked closer to her side.

Espurr scoffed. "I…think I'm a little more…then just sick," she said. "My head…feels like it's been run over by a horde of tarous. And I can't…I can't see."

"See?" Fennix asked. "But you're looking at us just fine."

"I don't think that's what she means," Amaranth said. "It's not that she can't see with her eyes. It's that she can't see with her mind."

Espurr looked past her hindpaws at the shaymin. "Who…are you?"

"Amaranth," she answered. "I'm the doctor for the Expedition Society. And I'm also the one who's treating you. You're suffering under something known as Psychic Block."

"It's…pretty bad…isn't it?" Espurr asked. "Am I…going to…?"

"If we can't get it treated soon, yes," Amaranth said bluntly. "You are going to die."

"Amaranth!" everyone yelled at her bluntness.

Amaranth glared at them all in response. "She seems like a mature kid who doesn't want things to be sugarcoated. So I won't sugarcoat anything. Besides, she's already guessed that. She'll figure it out soon enough anyways."

"I'm…glad you told me," Espurr said. "So…can you heal me?"

"Me, no," Amaranth said. "But there is someone who can. That's what I want to ask you about. Do you know anything about your parents?"

"…No, I don't," Espurr said, her face a melancholy one.

"You don't remember a thing?" Amaranth asked.

Espurr shook her head. "No, nothing," Espurr said. "I've been told…that my parents were both Meowstic. That I was just…suddenly found in my house after they disappeared. That I begged to keep this house. Principal Simipour told me all that. But…I don't remember. As far as I remember…I've always been living in this house. I've always been living on my own. As far as I'm concerned…I have no parents."

"So you really have no clue?" Fennix asked.

Espurr shook her head again. "Nope. Sorry."

"Hmm…do you think there might be a clue in your house?" Amaranth asked.

"I doubt it…but you can check it out," Espurr said. She closed her eyes and struggled to get up. Everyone naturally protested at her doing something like that, but Espurr ignored them all and stood up. When she was finally on two paws again, she wobbled around a bit, but she still managed to stand.

"You really shouldn't be standing, kid," Amaranth said.

"I…want to be there too," Espurr said. "It's…my house after all. And…I want to know where my parents are…too."

Amaranth sighed. "Light, Fennix. Can you two carry her to her house. Nurse, I'd like you to also follow, just in case something happens."

"Alright," Light and Fennix both said at the same time. Fennix stayed at Espurr's right while Light walked over to Espurr's left. Light knelt down and lifted Espurr's left paw over his shoulder while Fennix just waited under her arm for her to place it on her. And, though she looked reluctant, Espurr accepted the help.

"If it'll help, I'll follow too," Audino said.

"While you guys are doing that, we'll see what we can find out about Espurr's parents," Carracosta said. "Perhaps someone from the village back then knows something."

"Thanks, Pops," Fennix said as she and Light both lifted Espurr in the air at the same time.

"Is this really necessary?" Espurr asked. "I'm…I'm fine."

"Sorry, doctor's orders," Light said, cheerfully. "But even so, I don't want you to strain yourself. You wanted to come, so this is how it has to be."

"Come on, Espurr!" Fennix said. "Let's go on a parent hunt!"

So Light and Fennix both carried Espurr across the room and out of the infirmary. It was difficult at first, since Fennix was a quadruped and Light preferred to walk on two paws, making their heights different. Light almost had to hobble along to make things as comfortable for Espurr as possible, since there wasn't much Fennix could do to help. That, and the two kids liked to go at their own different pace, Fennix's being much faster than Light's. But the two eventually found a good coordinated walking rhythm that allowed them to move without too much difficulty. And they managed to continue that out of the infirmary and down on the path away from school.

Amaranth and Audino followed behind, their eyes on Espurr the entire time. It wasn't that Amaranth was particularly worried about Espurr's physical state, as it was mostly her mind that was in flux due to her Psychic Block, but her mental condition could cause physical difficulties. Especially as a Psychic-type, who use their powers as a sixth sense, one that Espurr is completely deprived of. She knew, sooner or later, the lack of that sense would affect her. And that mental strain was not something she needed.

But, for now, the crew was able to reach Espurr's house on the west side of town rather easily. Espurr's house, like most houses in Serene Village, was carved from two trees connected to each other. She had two pots with two flowers right on her doorstep on the two sides of her welcome map. On the left side of the room were two barrels of supplies and there were two empty pots on the right side of the room. A small brown carpet with a sun pattern was in the center of the room. Two windows were on the other side of the room, and there were school notes scattered all over the room.

 _Though that does make me wonder,_ Light thought. _Knowing what I know now…I wonder how much of this was left for by Espurr's parents._

"So, where should we start looking?" Light asked.

"I assume you regularly use those pots and barrels?" Amaranth asked.

"Yeah," Espurr said. Light and Fennix brought her over to her carpet and placed her down on it. "I…don't use the Deposit Box so I…store all my items in the barrels. And the pots…are used for cooking."

"Should've figured nothing would be hidden in those," Amaranth said. "Anything under the carpet?"

"I-I don't think so…" Espurr said. "I…moved it once while testing my…Psychic power. I…didn't see anything."

"Figures," Amaranth said. "Let's look around a bit more. There does seem to be another room."

"That's…where I cook my food…and my bedroom," Espurr said. "I doubt…you'd find anything there."

"We might as well check," Amaranth said. "We gotta look somewhere."

So everyone walked over to Espurr's bedroom. Like the rest of the house, there wasn't much there. A few bowls lied scattered around, but there wasn't much else to look at in the room. To the right was also a pile of straw, likely what would make up Espurr's bed in the night. However, Amaranth was interested in none of that.

"…I don't suppose anyone's bothered to notice the crack in the floor," she said,

"These houses are built in trees," Espurr said. "There cracks are…in pretty much everyone's houses. That's…nothing new."

"And are those cracks as large and in the middle as this one?" Amaranth asked. "Sorry, but my gut instinct is telling me there's something there."

Espurr sighed. "Once we find my parents, you better make sure to fix it," she said. "I'm too tired to argue."

"It's not like I want to destroy your house for no reason," Amaranth said. "I've got better things to do then go in a random person's house and destroy the place. And heck, if I'm right, that means that your parents put it back together somehow, so we can to."

"I'll do it," Light said, his tail already being sheathed in silver metal. "That way, if we're wrong you can blame me."

"No…I wouldn't blame you," Espurr said. "Just…do it."

"Alright, everyone back out, just in case," Light said.

So everyone left out of the room and into the doorway, leaving Light plenty of room to use his move. So Light focused on the center of the room, where all the cracks converged. He leaped high into the air before doing a front flip that left his tail in front of him. Once he knew where he was going, Light closed his eyes and fell. With his tail out and extended like that, the pikachu came crashing down onto the floor as hard as he could.

A loud crack echoed across the entire house and wood went flying everywhere. A few splinters even hit Light, one of which gave him a small cut just to the right of his red cheek. But the pikachu came out not too much worse for wear, and opened his eyes once he was sure no other splinters would come flying to him. And what he found was quite staggering.

The area he opened up didn't look too different from what the room looked like, at all. It wasn't fully opened up, as there were some fragments of the previous floor about a foot above the ground, but Light saw that it was pretty much the same wooden floor with rings around it as most houses had. It even no longer had cracks in it. Like this was the room all along, and what they knew was the place altered. Altered, as Light figured out, to hide one thing. A small black chest in the center of the room. Fennix, Espurr, and Amaranth also joined him in there, looking at the new room.

"Well…at least you won't need to adjust too much," Amaranth said. "Just a small hop down once the rest of the previous floor is gone. But more importantly."

"Do you want to open this box?" Light asked, his eyes on the Psychic-type. Espurr's expression was unreadable, which unnerved Light to no end. Espurr wasn't the most expressive Pokémon, but this was blank, even for her.

"No…you do it," Espurr said.

"Alright," Light said.

Light walked up to the small chest and opened it up, Espurr and Fennix walking to his sides to see what was inside. There were only three items inside, all of them with some amount of white to contrast the dark coloring of the box they were in. One was a round white badge with yellow wings on its side and a silver ingot in the center. One was a picture of two meowstic standing in the middle of some sort of forest in the middle of the night, the male meowstic smiling and striking a pose while the female meowstic looked on at him with a kind, but embarrassed, smile. The final item was a small note with one thing written on it: Team Mystik.

"Team…Mystik?" Espurr asked.

"How creative," Amaranth said, her eyes rolling. "Mystic with a K instead of a C. Clearly, the most creative minds in the universe were at work here."

"What type of badge is this?" Fennix asked.

"Exploration Team Badge," Light said. "Don't you remember? We were taught about the different types of organizations by the Expedition Society. Were you just not playing attention during that class?"

"Uhh…" Fennix took a few steps back and blushed. "Well…I knew you would learn it for me, so that way I wouldn't be lost in a situation like this! I was just thinking strategically."

"Oh yeah?" Light asked. "And what were you thinking about that was so important while we were learning that?"

"Uhh…that's classified information?" Fennix said.

Light rolled his eyes and huffed before looking back at the items. Amaranth also noticed the badge and looked at it was a strange look in her eye. Light wasn't exactly sure how to describe her glance, as it seemed to be a combination of sadness, fascination, and anger.

"This is a Silver Rank badge," Amaranth said.

"How can you tell?" Espurr asked.

"The jewel in the center of the Exploration badge changes depending on what rank an Explorer is," Amaranth explained. "Because it's silver, that means this is a Silver rank badge.

"Well, we learned something new," Light mentioned. "We should probably contact Ampharos and tell him…"

 _"BZZT H… Li…can you hear me?"_ Dedenne's voice sounded. " _Light, Fennix, Amaranth? Can you hear me?"_

Light, Fennix, and Amaranth all got out their gear shaped Expedition devices and turned them on. "Yeah Dedenne, we can hear you," Light said. "What's up."

" _The Chief wants to talk to you guys,"_ Dedenne said. " _I'm transferring you to him now."_

"Geez, talk about timing," Amaranth said. "A part of me doesn't believe it. But the Chief sure has his ways."

" _Hello, Team Rebirth, Amaranth,"_ Ampharos said. _"How has progress gone for you three?"_

"We've found a clue about Espurr's parents," Amaranth said. "Not where they are, because of course that can't be easy. But who they are. They were apparently once a Silver Rank Exploration Team known as Team Mystik, with a K instead of a C."

" _Oh good, that narrows down my findings,"_ Ampharos said. " _I learned of Team Mystik myself through my contacts. I had thought myself that they might be Espurr's parents, considering what I learned about them, knowing for sure helps a lot."_

"What you learned?" Fennix asked.

" _Team Mystik was an Exploration Team founded about 17 years ago,"_ Ampharos explained. " _They were both Meowstic when they formed the team and they were an independent team."_

"Independent team?" Fennix asked.

Amaranth groaned. "We're going to have a bunch of you repeating what Ampharos says, aren't we?"

"You really should have paid attention," Light said with a laugh.

"Glad you find this funny," Amaranth said. "I find it a pain in the neck. And a waste of time."

"There are two types of Exploration Teams," Light explained. "Independent and Guild Affiliated. It depends on whether the Exploration Team starts by joining a guild or on their own. Joining a guild is free, let's you start up easily, gets you some training, has free food, and lets you be recognized by higher-ups in the Exploration Team Federation, at the cost of having most of the money you get from jobs taken from you by the guild. I hear it can sometimes go up to 90% of your earnings, which almost sounds like robbery if it wasn't for the free room and food. Anyways, independent Exploration Teams managed without joining a guild at all. It's a lot more difficult, as you have to pay for your own home, food, badges, things like that. But you get a lot more freedom and get all the money from the jobs you take."

"Oh…okay," Fennix said.

Amaranth rolled her eyes. "Continue, Chief."

" _Team Mystik did manage to make somewhat of a name for themselves,"_ Amaranth continued. " _Espurr's father, named Vivi, was able to use his psychic barriers to block enemy attacks and protect his teammate. Espurr's mother, named Selena, had powerful Psychic attacks that she used to devastate her opponents. Together, they were a powerful force. They were mostly known for taking on outlaw missions, far stronger then you'd expect rookie Explorers to take on."_

"Those…are my parents' names?" Espurr asked. "My parents…are explorers?"

"Do you know what happened to them?" Light asked into his device.

" _Unfortunately, no,_ " Ampharos said. " _There was the thing that made me believe the possibility that they are Espurr's parents. More than 13 years ago, the two of them vanished. Gone completely and utterly without a trace. And as far as I've learned, the two have not been seen since."_

"13 years ago…" Espurr said.

"Espurr, you're almost 13, right?" Light asked. "Since you're only a bit older than the rest of us? If that's so, and your parents have been gone for 13 years, then…"

" _Exactly what I was thinking, my friend,"_ Ampharos said. _"The Exploration Team Federation has a specific rule when it comes down to romance between teammates. It's not uncommon for it to happen, so it's not looked down upon. But if the couple wishes to have a child, they need to have a third teammate around to continue the team's activities while the couple raises the child. And Team Mystik had no third member. So that might be one reason why they left for Serene Village. But, they never actually quit the team. They just disappeared. And that's the odd thing."_

"And that still doesn't help us," Amaranth said. "Alright, we know that Espurr's parents left to here to raise Espurr for a few years. Problem is, we still have no clue where they went after leaving her to fend for herself. Unless you learned something, because from what you're saying to us, they're still missing."

" _Sadly, I can't help you much there,"_ Ampharos said. _"I tried my best to find out more information about them. But there wasn't much more I could find outside of what I already learned. There's quite a lot of information about them that's unavailable to anyone, even with my connections. The only thing I can confirm is that they haven't appeared as an active Exploration Team since their disappearance."_

"So we're still stuck?" Fennix asked.

"This is almost looking to be a lost cause," Amaranth stated. She looked at Light. "Hey, kid. I don't suppose you happen to be able to see visions from touching an object, do you?"

Light looked at Amaranth in confusion. "No, I don't," he said. "What kind of weird ability is that?"

"Never mind," Amaranth said, shifting her eyes back from Light to the device. "Chief, we found a photo with the rest of the stuff. It's not much, but do you think it might be a clue? Something Espurr's parents left to help her find them?"

" _It's a possibility,"_ Ampharos said. " _Scan the picture with your devices and send it to us. We'll look over it and see if we can figure out where the picture comes from."_

Light placed his Expedition Device over the picture and scanned it, a blue light falling over the picture. Eventually, the picture was scanned, and Light tapped on the device with his paw for a bit to send the picture to Ampharos. The picture was eventually sent and all that they had to do was wait for Ampharos to get it.

 _"Alright, I got the picture,"_ Ampharos said. _"I think I recognize the forest they're outside, but I need to check just in case. I'll get back to you tomorrow with what I find."_

"Alright, Chief," Light said. With that, everyone turned off their devices and put them away.

"Great, an entire day until we learn something," Amaranth said in an annoyed voice.

"What will happen…if we don't find my parents?" Espurr asked.

"I'll need to find a good Psychic-type to do it," Amaranth said. "If I'm lucky I can find someone with a close enough Psychic wavelength to you, but that's unlikely. So I'd need to find someone with a lot of control and power under the hopes that they'll be able to work despite not having the same wavelength. I've got someone in mind who might be able to do it, but I'd really like to have someone more powerful. Something on the level of Mew…"

Amaranth trailed off as she realized what she said. Light knew the implications of what she said as well, his eyes turning towards his Partner. The former Mew, now fennekin's eyes lit up at what the shaymin said and her mouth opened up, likely to volunteer herself.

"No!" Amaranth said quickly before Fennix could say anything.

"But you said…" Fennix said.

"I said Mew, not a fennekin," Amaranth said. "You're not Mew anymore, no matter how much you wish you are. Being Mew once shouldn't even give you that much more powerful Psychic powers. So, no."

"We've…got a Mew friend," Light said, quickly changing the subject. "I don't know how helpful he'll be, though. I don't know how old he actually is, but he acts like a kid."

"Then no," Amaranth said. "This needs a large amount of concentration and the ability to work well under pressure, on the level that a flighty kid probably wouldn't be able to handle. Something that, no Fennix, even if you did have somehow some remaining powerful Psychic energy inside you, you still wouldn't be able to accomplish what's needed."

"Thought not," Light said. "I really should go on another adventure with him sometime, but I guess that won't be until later."

"But I…" Fennix said.

"We'll cross that bridge when we reach it," Amaranth said. "For now, Espurr still has a week. Let's hope that we can find her parents in that week. Let's all get some rest for now."

Amaranth jumped her way out of the room, nodding to Audino on her way out of the room. Together, they walked out of the house, leaving Light, Fennix, and Espurr still in the room. Light sighed before looking at his Partner, seeing the sadness on her face. He knew full well why, and what Amaranth's words meant to her, but there was nothing he could say to really help her in this situation.

"I…think we should get you back to the school's infirmary," Light told Espurr, hoping that it would get the focus off the awkward situation. "Just in case something happens."

"Sure…I think I need some sleep," Espurr said. "My head hurts horribly. Some sleep will do me some good."

"Hopefully you can sleep despite the pain," Light said.

"I'll try," Espurr said.

Light looked over at Fennix, who was still depressed. "Hey Fennix, do you mind helping me?" Light asked.

"G-go on ahead without me," Fennix said. "I…need a minute."

Light sighed. "Alright," Light said. "Hey…Fennix? It's…going to be alright."

"Okay, Light," Fennix said, but she turned around to face away from him, suggesting that things weren't okay."

With one last sigh, Light lifted Espurr over his shoulder before walking the lonely walk out of her house and back to the school's infirmary.

* * *

 **So now we have Espurr once again enter the story as an active force. It took me a bit longer then I'd like (and I half debated on combining the last chapter and this one), but I did want the proper setup for this story. But now Espurr is here and will once again act in the plot instead of just having the plot surround her.**

 **Also, Espurr's parents. Aside from being the obvious unanswered question about Espurr from Super, some of you might be wondering why I'm doing it in this kind of story. That's because, come what may, I want this story to end with Espurr having no more unanswered questions about her past. Hence the reason I tied them to the plot. Plus, it adds a bit to the mystery.**

 **Beta read by TheGOAT**


	6. A Direction

_When Light woke up, he felt like something was wrong. He slept in Nuzleaf's house, but when he woke, Nuzleaf wasn't anywhere around. This wasn't something Light was too unfamiliar with, as Nuzleaf occasionally left to do his own thing, and Light didn't see him at all yesterday anyways, but something still felt unsettling about the house as Light looked around. It felt way too empty. Eventually, he figured it out after inspecting the house. There were no cupboards, no barrels, no supplies anywhere. There was nothing in the house except for Light._

 _"What?" Light asked himself. "Did Nuzleaf do some renovations last night or something?"_

 _Light couldn't help but feel unsettled as he looked, but he eventually just passed it off as something he would have to worry about later. Right now, he had focus on Espurr. So Light quickly left his house to go find Fennix so they could start._

 _Light left for Carracosta's house next door, but he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something wrong. This feeling only increased as he walked into Carracosta's house. Neither Carracosta nor Fennix were in there, and this house was just as empty as the last one. Light could feel a pit of worry in his heart, but he still tried to calm himself._

 _"Alright, this is weird, but there's no use worrying about it right now," Light mused. "I should head off to the school. They might be there."_

 _So Light walked his way across the path downhill towards Serene Village Square, where he would then turn towards the north. But while he was walking, Light noticed how barren the village was. Granted, Serene Village wasn't exactly the most populated place in the world, and Lively Town was much more lively, but Light almost always saw someone walking around in the morning. Roselia and Bedew, Raticate and Ratatta, the rest of the younger children from Serene Village who were always playing around. Nobody was around, though, making Serene Village a ghost town._

 _"What in the world?" Light asked._

 _So Light started running now, hoping to find any sort of life. And once he finally got to the Square, he finally found something. Though Light had to pause and his heart fell when he saw what was there waiting for him._

 _The good thing was that he found Carracosta finally. The bad thing was what he found the Rock/Water-type doing. Carracosta was looking solemnly on two specific objects in the dead center of the town. Light walked up to him and then around him, the pikachu's eyes on what Carracosta was looking at. And eventually, Light saw it. Two gravestones in the center of the town. Light's breath was caught in his throat as he looked at it, and he refused to read the names written on the graves._

 _"Oh Light…sorry," Carracosta sobbed._

 _"Carracosta, what's going on?" Light asked. "Where is everyone? And those graves…who do they belong to?"_

 _"I don't blame you for forgetting," Carracosta stammered. "You were rather distraught when it happened."_

 _"W-what happened?" Light asked._

 _"Poor little Espurr didn't make it," Carracosta answered. "You tried as hard as you could to save her, but she died."_

 _"What?!" Light asked, feeling his heart squeeze in his chest. "But…when? How? Amaranth told us that she still had a week!"_

 _"Light, it's been almost a month since that happened," Carracosta corrected hesitatingly._

 _"A-a month?" Light asked. He felt his entire body trembling now. His world started growing darker. "N-no! This isn't possible! W-we were going to find her parents! W-we were going to cure her! S-she can't be dead! She just can't!"_

 _"I'm sorry you couldn't save her in the end," Carracosta apologized. "Truly, I am."_

 _Light wanted to just lie down and cry right there and then. The sheer idea, the thought that Espurr was dead. It couldn't be, it shouldn't be, but he was seeing the proof right in front of him. Not only that, but there was something else in front of him. And Light was more afraid of what that could possibly mean._

 _"A-and there are two graves," Light eventually asked. "W-who is the other? And where are the rest of the villagers."_

 _"…Light, you already know, don't you?" Carracosta said calmly. "She was depressed after Espurr's loss. She blamed herself. And no matter how much you tried to comfort her, she wasn't able to take it."_

 _"N-no," Light sobbed, feeling his heart almost stop._

 _"My only hope is that she passed quickly," Carracosta muttered. "I hope however it happened, it was merciful. She seemed so distraught that I fear for how it happened."_

 _"Please, no Carracosta," Light pleaded, wanting it all to stop, wanting this all to be done._

 _"And with those two gone so quickly, most of the rest of the village left," Carracosta spoke in a monotone voice. "Too many bad memories. I left too, of course, but there's not much else for me, so I can't really do much but come back."_

 _"N-no, it can't be," Light said. He eventually walked forward to look at both the graves to confirm what he thought. He didn't want to, he wanted anything else to be true, and this was the only way he could find out. But no matter how much he wanted it to be true, everything came crashing down when he read the name on the gravestones._

 _'Fennix.'_

 _"N-no!" Light yelled, tears in his eyes. "NO! This can't be! W-we were going to help Espurr! We still had a week! T-this can't be happening!"_

 _"Of course, it wasn't Fennix's fault at all, was it?" Carracosta boomed from behind. His voice became all dark and sent chills down Light's neck. "It was yours, wasn't it? Human?"_

 _"W-what?!" Light asked, quickly spinning around to look at Carracosta, but the Prototurtle Pokémon was gone. However, Light could still hear his voice._

 _"Fennix disappeared on you once, then both her and Espurr died." Carracosta's voice became distorted and cackling. "You are cursed human. Whether you wish to admit it or not, you are cursed. Everyone you get close to will die. You are destined to live in despair. This is your fate. It would be better if you never got close to anyone. That way, nobody would have to die."_

 _"No…no…" Light sobbed, grabbing his ears and pulling them down._

"NO!" Light yelled as suddenly got up in his straw bed back in Nuzleaf's house. Light's body shook and he looked around his lodging. Back was his bag, back was the cupboards and barrels filled with supplies.

Light took several deep breaths, trying his best to calm his shaking nerves. "It was only a dream," Light attempted to reassure himself. "It was only a dream. Only a nightmare. That's it. Fennix is fine, probably sleeping in her room. And Espurr…well I can't say she's fine, but she's still alive. That was only another terrible nightmare."

The pikachu looked outside, seeing that it was still dark outside. He wasn't sure what time it was, but it definitely wasn't morning.

"Ha…I should…get some sleep," Light sputtered. "It's…still night. And I…need my sleep. For the Expedition…tomorrow. G-good night."

So Light closed his eyes, feeling the tears fall down his fur, hoping against all hope that the nightmare that plagued him that night won't torment him anymore.

* * *

The next morning, Light met up with Fennix in the space between their two houses to go to the school's infirmary. As Light looked over his friend, he saw a determined glint in her eye, as if she wanted to prove something that day. While the pikachu was glad the fennekin was no longer as depressed as she was yesterday, and glad that she was still around confirming what happened as a nightmare, he was slightly worried as well. Light hoped, when he saw that in her eyes, that she wouldn't do anything rash.

"So…how'd you sleep?" the pikachu asked when he finally approached the fennekin.

"Fine," Fennix asked. "How about you?"

Light sighed, trying his best to block thoughts about his nightmare out of his head. "'Bout as well as you'd expect." The pikachu trued to keep his voice as calm as possible to avoid betraying what happened in his dream. "Worrying about Espurr doesn't exactly make it easy to get some sleep. But I managed and I should be good for today. Hope Espurr got some good sleep as well."

"Think she did?" Fennix asked.

"I don't know how much pain she's in," Light admitted. "So I really don't know how much sleep she managed to get. I hate to say it, though, but I imagine the only way she did was through a Sleep Seed or something. I just hope, at least in some way, she's feeling better."

Fennix nodded. "Well, what are we standing around here for? Let's find out!"

And with those words, Fennix went bounding off down the hill and towards the square to where the school was. Her sudden rush caused Light to pause for a few seconds, no thoughts or words coming from his mouth. She moved on so fast and so suddenly that she was half-way down the hill by the time Light managed to snap out of his state. He rushed after her on all four of his paws, the possibility of her doing some sort of rash action still fresh in his mind.

Eventually, Light's naturally faster speed allowed him to catch up with Fennix on the path between trees leading to the school. Of course, Fennix was still running even after Light caught up to her, so he wasn't able to catch his breath as he followed behind her. The two kept running straight through the school gates and at the door to the infirmary.

Luckily, despite her mad dash to the medical office, Fennix slowed down to an almost stop once they got in. Light thanked Arceus for that, both because it allowed him the chance to catch his breath and because he didn't want to disturb Espurr if she was still sleeping. They both walked forward, Light assessing the situation as they did.

Audino and Amaranth were both already in the infirmary, but everyone else who was there yesterday was no longer in the building. Light guessed that they were likely off helping out with the search in any way they can. Espurr was also there, and awake, but Light guessed by the look of her disheveled fur and her tired eyes that she didn't get much sleep. The pikachu didn't blame her, it must not be easy sleeping with all that pain and the knowledge that she could die very soon.

"Morning everyone," Light announced. "Espurr, how are you feeling today?"

Espurr turned around and looked at Team Rebirth. "About as well…as you can imagine," Espurr panted. "I bet I look…pretty terrible…don't I?"

"If you think you look bad, you should see us after a hard Expedition," Light responded with a chuckle. "I've seen Fennix look ten times worse then you'll ever look."

"Thanks," Fennix sassed.

"Well, I see you're all in high spirits," Amaranth said. "But you might as well go back and just do want you want to do. We still don't have any clue yet where we're going."

"It'll take the Chief some time," Fennix responded. "But I'm sure he'll find it eventually!"

Amaranth rolled her eyes. "Yeah…sure. I'm betting were going to be waiting here for a while until we…"

Amaranth wasn't able to finish her sentence before a buzzing noise sounded in their ears. Light chuckled while Fennix broke into all-out laughter at Ampharos's timing. Amaranth, on the other hand, rolled her eyes and groaned out loud. Espurr and Audino both looked in confusion at the three Expedition Society members' sudden reaction.

"Should I…ask?" Espurr asked.

"The Chief is calling," Light chuckled. "Guess what that means."

"I swear, if I didn't know any better, I'd bet the Chief is specifically listening to me so he can contradict me," Amaranth groaned.

Light and Fennix grabbed out their Expedition Gadgets and turned them on immediately. Amaranth, on the other hand, took a few seconds, still sighing at Ampharos's timing. Once all three got their devices on, the Chief's voice came out from their devices.

"Light, Fennix, Amaranth?" Ampharos asked. "Do you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, unfortunately," Amaranth said, still groaning.

"Did you find something, Chief?" Fennix asked.

"It took me a bit, but your leader has indeed found where to look!" Ampharos declared.

"…Chief, I swear to Arcues, if you're posing while talking to us through voice chat where we can't see you," Amaranth growled. Ampharos was silent for a few seconds, causing Amaranth to groan out loud. "Remind me why I joined you guys again?"

"That's beside the point," Ampharos said quickly. "Amaranth, how long did you say little Espurr has again?"

"About a week, Chief," Amaranth answered. "Maybe a bit longer. It ultimately depends on her. So long as she keeps taking the medicine that prevents her from using Psychic-type moves, her Psychic Block won't progress much further than it already is. Problem is, she's already got a lot of pressure in her head. The constant strain will do her in sooner or later. So it all depends on how strong she is. I'm giving her a week as a rough guess. Could be better, could be worse."

"That's not a lot of time," Ampharos mused.

"You're right about that," Amaranth said. "I know full well it's not much time, especially if we end up searching the whole world for two Pokémon. So the sooner I have concrete answers on where to go, the better. I'd rather not waste more time than necessary."

"Alright, then that's where I come in!" Ampharos announced once again. "I believe the forest in question that the picture was a place in the Mist Continent called the Moonlit Forest."

"Moonlit Forest?" Fennix asked. Light switched around his Expedition Gadget at her statement to the World Map.

"Mist Continent?!" Amaranth yelled. She gave an incredulous look into her gadget, before remembering that Ampharos can't see anything. "You're…joking, right Chief?"

"No, I don't believe I am, my dear friend," Ampharos answered. "I share in your difficulty grasping this. I too was skeptical when I first thought of that. But I am nearly positive that we're looking at Moonlit Forest."

"These two are Explorers!" Amaranth rebuffed. "You know, from the Grass Continent? Why would they know about a dungeon from the Mist Continent?"

"The answer lies in the fact that they were Explorers," Ampharos answered. "It's likely they've been out of continent before, as they found Serene Village. So it's not a stretch to assume they know about the Mist Continent."

"That, and the Moonlit Forest is on the eastern edge of that landmass," Light explained as he looked at the map. "If they went from Grass, to Water, to Mist, it'd make sense that they'd see the Moonlit Forest as one of their first dungeons."

Amaranth sighed. "I…suppose. I'm just so used to Explorers mostly exploring around the Grass Continent, since that's mainly what one of my accomplices does."

"Ask…Ampharos…what he thinks my parents are doing in the Mist Continent," Espurr sputtered.

"It's alright, little Espurr, I can hear you just fine," Ampharos assured. "And to answer that question, we are unsure. Though we do believe they must have heard about it sometime when they explored the Water Continent and found Serene Village in the first place, we aren't entirely sure why they chose that forest as a hiding spot. We can't exactly even say that they're there. It's just currently our only clue."

"Which isn't exactly comforting," Amaranth reminded everyone.

"Indeed," Ampharos said. "Luckily, to help you guys, I got a favor in for Lapras and am sending her up the river straight towards Serene Village. She should be there shortly and will take you out to sea much faster than you would normally."

"We're still not going to get to the Mist Continent until sometime tomorrow," Amaranth rebutted. She sighed. "But fine. Lapras is as fast as we're going to get for now."

"I've informed Lapras about the urgency of the situation and she promised to get you there as fast as possible without tiring herself," Ampharos assured her.

"Thanks Chief," Light said.

The conversation done, everyone turned off their gadgets and faced each other to discuss the information gained.

"Well, we have a direction now," Light started.

"Whether we'll find anything, though, that's another question," Amaranth responded. "And if we don't, we've effectively wasted our time."

"What do you think we should do?" Fennix angrily asked. "You said we need to do this, or else she'll die! It's not like we've got any better ideas!"

"I'm not saying we shouldn't be doing this," Amaranth said. "I'm just considering my options. We're looking at the vaguest of vague clues without much hope that they're actually there. Assuming they're even still alive. It's a direction, yes, but we should keep thinking about our options rather than just assume this will work and be done with it."

"We've already considered our options," Light assured everyone, walking between the two Pokémon to stop the fighting. "We either find Espurr's parents or you call in some help. For now, we should just get ready and leave as soon as Lapras gets here."

"…Yeah, you're right." Amaranth commanded, "Get supplies ready for three, you two."

"I'm coming too!" Espurr exclaimed in the strongest voice she could muster despite her illness. That caught everyone's attention and caused them all to turn around and look at her. She stood up in a strong straight pose with a fierce determination in her face, but Light could tell behind that determination that she was in pain from doing so.

"…And you think I'm going to agree with that because…?" Amaranth asked. "I'd like you to remember, you're sick. Your mental state is fragile. You have absolutely no moves you can use right now. Traveling around a random dungeon is the stupidest thing you could possibly do in your state."

"I'm not going to fight!" Espurr assured, still trying to keep momentum through the pain. "B-but…I need to go with you! I told you before, I want to find my parents too."

"Enough that you'd want to risk dying out there?" Amaranth asked.

"Yes," Espurr retorted. "I'm dying over here anyways. But…I've always wanted to find my parents. Always wanted to meet them. I…I want to know why. Why did they abandon me? Why did they leave me here on my own? Everyone else in the village always had their parents around. Even Fennix had her Pops. But I never had anyone like that. I was forced to grow up on my own, mature a lot faster than everyone else. And I want to know why. Why couldn't they take care of me like actual parents should! I…I don't care if I die trying. I'm not afraid of dying. I want to find my parents more than anything else."

Light felt a familiarity ring in his ears at those words. He didn't even have to look at where he heard similar words before to know what she was thinking. Instead, he looked at Amaranth to see what she thought. But from the look on the shaymin's face, she still had no intention of letting Espurr come with them.

"Yeah, of course you can come with us!" Fennix stated.

This broke Amaranth's unmovable expression as she turned to look at the fennekin with surprise. "You're joking, right?" she asked. "Do you just not care whether she lives or dies?"

"I care about her more than you!" Fennix growled. "Espurr's coming with us, and that's that! This is Team Rebirth's Expedition, and I'm one of the leaders, so if I say she's coming, she's coming."

 _That's not…entirely true,_ Light thought. _We're here to help Espurr. And I'm technically the leader of this team._

However, Light nodded his head at his partner before looking at Espurr. "Espurr, make sure you stay out of danger," Light informed. "When we're off Lapras I want you either behind Fennix or behind some sort of tree or corner at all times. If you really need to fight, grab some wands from my bag and fight using those. But don't strain yourself, got it?"

"Of course," Espurr accepted. "It's not like…I really could anyways."

"Am I the only one here with any common sense?" Amaranth asked.

Light shook his head and looked at her. "Honestly, I'd rather have Espurr stay here where she's safe too," he whispered to the healer. "But when those two get determined, nothing can stop them. I'd rather keep her close to us rather than have her run away on her own. Plus…I understand what Espurr's going through. I've…heard the same words before."

Amaranth groaned. "Fine. I suppose, since I know the disease better, it'd be better for me to keep an eye on her anyways. I still don't like this, though."

Amaranth stepped forward towards the exit, speaking without looking back at the other three. "Alright, get supplies for four then. And some wands for Espurr so she can do something. But Espurr, you make sure you don't strain yourself. You are walking on a very thin edge with sharp rocks below. Any trauma could send you right over the edge."

"I…understand," Espurr confirmed.

Amaranth stopped for a second and nodded. "Good. I'll make sure all the medical supplies I need are ready. I leave battle preparations to you guys."

And with that, Amaranth left the infirmary. When she was finally gone, Espurr managed to walk over to Team Rebirth, ignoring the pain and the strain that it caused her. Despite the pain, she gave Fennix and Light her best smile.

"Hey, thanks you two," Espurr said. "Thanks for helping me go on this."

"No problem," Light responded with a smile. "The way you were on about that, I knew we couldn't leave without you. You even managed to say that all without stopping once."

"I…had to," Espurr confirmed. "I wasn't going to let you three leave me behind…when it's my parents you're looking for. So I had to speak my mind. I'm just…glad it worked."

Light nodded. "Alright, let's go to the Deposit Box and Kecleon's Market. Espurr, we'll let you decide which wand you want to carry through the dungeon."

"Alright."

Light walked over to Espurr to help lift her up, but the Psychic-type took a step back and shook her head. Without saying anything else, Espurr walked forward on her own two feet towards the entrance of the nurse's office. Light and Fennix both went side-by-side and looked at her as she walked, Light with concern on his face.

"Espurr!" Light exclaimed.

"If I'm going on this Expedition with you…I need to be able to move on my own," Espurr explained without looking back. "I can't be depending on you guys just to move around. You guys can't carry me in the middle of a dungeon. So…I need to do this. Let's…go."

So Espurr continued walking forward in her slow and staggered walk. Like yesterday, she still had a sort of drunken stagger as she walked, but Light could tell that she was trying her best to walk as steadily as possible. She was determined, though Light wasn't exactly sure whether he liked that determination or not. He agreed with Amaranth, Espurr was in danger and the more risks she takes, the higher chance she could die.

"Fennix, can you do me a favor while we're on this Expedition?" Light asked.

"What do you need?" she asked.

Light watched Espurr leave the building. "Since you're usually attacking from afar, keep an eye on her during the battles," Light said. "I'm…worried about her. Really worried. She's determined, sure, but she might take that determination too far."

"I think she'll be fine!" Fennix assured. "You're just a big worrywart!"

"Still," Light begged.

"Yeah, sure, I'll keep an eye on her," Fennix accepted. "But I wouldn't worry about it. We Psychic-types are stronger then you think."

Light had half a mind to tell her she wasn't a Psychic-type yet, but he decided otherwise for now. Instead, he noticed that Espurr was out of his vision and decided to walk out before she got too far on her own. Fennix followed behind him as they both walked off to find Espurr and get preparations ready.

* * *

 **Nightmare sequence to start off with. Light's fears and worries are put on the table for all to see, and we see that he'll blame himself if this Expedition fails. Of course, it's not like Light will tell anyone that, he'll just keep it to himself. That's pretty much Light's character in a nutshell. He's the type who wants to help whoever he can, and when he fails, he blames himself even if it had very little to do with his own actions. We'll have to see how well that one works out for him.**

 **We also see that Fennix has become a lot happier since the talk last night. Makes one wonder what she's planning. And Espurr's determined enough to ignore the pain and walk on her own two paws. The pieces have all been set up, now it's time to see where they go.**

 **Beta read by TheGOAT**


	7. Chained Heart

Preparations were complete, and everyone was riding on Lapras's back to the Mist Continent. There wasn't much talking on the ride for a multitude of reasons. Espurr went right to sleep on Lapras's neck as soon as Amaranth gave her medication, so she could rest up for the walk ahead. As for the other three, Light could tell that Fennix was still angry at the shaymin, making conversation light on their end. And Light couldn't really say much from the awkward silence that fell between them.

Though there wasn't a complete lack of chatter. On the evening of that day when the sun was falling down behind them and the skies and ocean were filled with a bright orange, they got a call from Ampharos. Everyone took out their gadgets and spoke softly in them to ensure that Espurr's rest went uninterrupted.

"Yeah Chief, what do you need?" Amaranth asked.

"Nothing much," Ampharos said. "I wanted to just inform you, Light and Fennix, that your friends are all rested up and are en route to Serene Village again. Buizel is escorting them too. I'll have Dedenne transfer you to them, but first I wanted to ask if everything has been going well."

"Well, riding across the sea is about as much fun as you can imagine," Amaranth growled. "Also, we have extra cargo."

"Extra cargo?" Ampharos asked.

"S-sorry Chief, but Espurr wanted to come with us," Light explained. "She's desperate to find her parents and well…we couldn't just leave her. Especially since she might go off on her own and then what would happen. She does have a pass and permission to ride."

"I suppose I can somewhat understand her feelings," Ampharos understood. "It must be tough having others look into your past while you remain unaware. I trust you all to keep her safe."

"Of course, Chief," Light promised.

"Anyways, I'll transfer you to Buizel now," Ampharos said.

Static sounded from the Expedition Gadgets for a few seconds as the transfer was made. Light held his breath as he waited for the static to clear and for his friend's voices to come from the other side. Eventually, the static finally cleared and Buizel's voice came out clear.

"Hey Light, Fennix, can you hear me?" the Water-type asked.

"Loud and clear, Buizel!" Fennix spoke.

"How are all the kids from the village?" Light asked immediately.

"We're fine!" Deerling announced. Light breathed a sigh of relief when he heard her voice from the gadget.

"Of course we're fine!" Pancham declared next. "I'm not going to let a little exhaustion stop me!"

"But you were the one who was collapsed the longest!" Shelmet sassed.

"Who asked you?!" Pancham yelled.

"Those two," Deerling groaned. Light could imagine her rolling her eyes at the two kids' behavior.

"Well, it sounds like you all have your energy back," Light chuckled as he felt a weight lifted off his shoulders.

"Yeah, we're fine now," Goomy said. "We're heading back to Serene Village now. Well, not right now. We're camping out for the night. But we'll get back there by tomorrow."

"What about Espurr?" Deerling asked. "How is she doing?"

"We're off finding a cure for her, right now," Light assured them all, even though he still had doubts himself. "Until then, she's mostly fine. A little woosy in the head, but we're keeping an eye on her. Don't worry too much about it, once we come back to Serene Village, Espurr will be completely fine!"

"That's good to hear," Deerling responded, relief in her voice. "I can't wait to see you all again."

"Me too," Light said. He heard Amaranth scoff at his words, and he had to admit that he didn't disagree with her. They still only had a slight idea of where Espurr's parents were and if they were wrong, then he didn't know what they could do. But he didn't want the rest of the kids to worry about it.

"Well, we should probably get some sleep now," Buizel brought himself back into the conversation. "But before that…Light, Fennix do you mind if I talk to you two alone?"

"I'm right here, you know," Amaranth scoffed. "But fine, whatever. I'll turn off the gadget and head to the other end of Lapras."

Amaranth turned off her gadget and walked to Lapras's tail end, watching the ocean as they passed through. Light and Fennix both gave each other guilty looks before looking back at the shaymin. Light eventually gave a sigh before turning his focus back towards his gadget.

"Yeah Buizel?" Light asked.

"Listen you two, I decided to do some digging on Amaranth's past on my own," Buizel whispered. "I know, that sounds bad, and we should trust the Chief in his decision to recruit her. But I was curious, so I did some looking. And well…."

"Well?" Fennix said. "Well what?"

"…Just…be careful you guys," Buizel confided. "I'm not entirely sure if I'd trust her."

"You're not?" Fennix asked.

"Honestly, I have half a mind to head over to you guys myself after I'm done with my mission here," Buizel admitted. "Just in case she does something we wouldn't like. But just…make sure you're careful, you guys. If the Chief trusts her, then I want to do so as well, but from what I've heard…I don't know."

"We'll be careful…I guess," Light hesitated. Though he didn't have his eyes on his gadget anymore. He was busy looking at the shaymin watching the waves.

"Alright, good," Buizel said. "Anyways, I should make sure these kids get some sleep. I'll see you all later."

Buizel turned off his gadget, allowing Light and Fennix to do so as well. The two placed their gadgets in their scarves before looking at the shaymin once again. Light wasn't entirely sure what Fennix was thinking as she looked at Amaranth, but he had a guess that it was something similar to him. They were both wondering exactly what Buizel found out about the shaymin.

"…It's rude to stare," Amaranth eventually spoke.

"S-sorry," Light apologized.

"So, what did Buizel want to tell you about that was so secretive that he couldn't tell me?"

Light and Fennix looked at each other. "Uhh…do you really want to know?" Light asked.

"Let me guess. 'Don't trust me' or something like that? Am I close?" Despite saying all this, Amaranth's voice didn't lose her calm and she kept looking at the ocean.

"He…apparently did some digging into your past," Light admitted.

"Of course," Amaranth responded.

Silence came between the three of them for a few moments. Eventually, Fennix finally asked, "So…what was he talking about? What…happened?"

"…I was in jail before Ampharos recruited me," Amaranth calmly admitted.

"WHAT?!" Light and Fennix both yelled.

Amaranth immediately glared and hushed the two. When she did, Light clasped his paws to his mouth and looked immediately at Espurr, his heart beating fast with worry that she would be woken up from their outburst. Luckily, the young girl was still fast asleep, having not even stirred despite their outburst.

"Sorry," he apologized.

"Y-you're just telling us?" Fennix asked.

"Yeah, what did you expect?" Amaranth said. "That I'd keep it from you this entire Expedition until some moment happens where I'm forced to admit it?"

"Y-yeah, we kinda did," Fennix admitted. "It seemed like…you'd be someone who wanted to keep something like that hidden."

Amaranth looked back at the ocean and shook her head. "You two have read way too many books. I have nothing to hide. Yeah, I ended up in the slammer. I was an outlaw once. I have no trouble admitting it."

"T-then why haven't you mentioned anything until now?" Light asked.

Amaranth sighed. "I don't like…talking about it. It wasn't exactly a fun time in my life. I'm not…entirely pleased with the decisions I made. And it took a lot for me to snap out of it. So yes, I'm not the large shining symbol of purity that most shaymin are. Most of the shaymin won't even look at me because of it."

"There's also…" Amaranth sighed and used Psychic on her bag. Out of it came a pink flower that looked similar to the ones on her head around her ears. Amaranth plopped it in front of her and looked at it with a sorrowful look.

"What's that?" Fennix asked.

"A Gracidia Flower," Amaranth answered, her eyes still on the flower. "A shaymin specialty. They're flowers that symbolize gratitude. When a shaymin is in close proximity to one during the day, they can absorb it's pollen to transform into their Sky Forme. At least…that's how it is normally."

Amaranth quickly flung the flower back into her bag with her Psychic power, almost as if she was discarding a piece of trash. "Normally…but not for me. I've tried it before several times, but I can't go into my Sky Forme anymore. I've completely lost that ability since going to jail. So I can't fly ever again. I can't feel the wind whistle through me as I'm going through the air, where only Flying-types can normally go. My paws will never leave the ground ever again."

"S-sorry," Light apologized.

"It's…well I can't say I've gotten over it, because otherwise I wouldn't be talking about it now," Amaranth said. "But…I'll live. I was the idiot that became an outlaw in the first place. I'm the one who got thrown in jail in the first place. So I have to accept the consequences. Everyone hating me, being unable to fly, those are all my fault alone and no one else's"

Light looked at her with understanding. While he had no doubts that there was something else underlying within her behavior, he did figure out one fact. Amaranth was a Pokémon who didn't fit in with the rest of her species. She spent time in jail and was now ostracized from those she used to be close to. While Light didn't know what she went to jail for, he understood her, and decided not to press on what took her there any longer.

"So, why'd you become a doctor then?" Fennix asked.

"One of my few remaining friends recommended it to me," Amaranth responded. She finally turned over to look at the two kids. "I knew the basics before I went to jail, and he figured it'd be a great way to get back into society and do some good to make up for all the horrible things I did. I told him he was an idiot and that nobody would bother hiring a past jailbird as a doctor. Heck, I doubted there would be anyone who would teach me. But I'm here now, so you can probably guess how that worked."

Light chuckled. "I've worked with the Chief for not even a year yet, and I can already tell you he's like that. Ampharos seems to like giving Pokémon a chance that others wouldn't. Take Fennix and me. The Expedition Society has a 'no children' rule, something the adults reminded Fennix all the time. But Ampharos let us join regardless. He can be a little ditzy at times and has the worst sense of direction I've seen, but he's a pretty good Pokémon. Everyone one of us in the society has some story like that. Just ask around, you'll find that all of us were given a chance we wouldn't normally have because of Ampharos."

"That why the kid over there idolizes him so much?" Amaranth asked, glancing at Fennix as she did so.

"I have a name, you know!" Fennix yelled. However, she quickly let go of her anger. "But…yeah. Who else would've given the town troublemaker a chance to join something like this? To see the world like this? I get to go on a lot of amazing adventures and it's all thanks to the Chief."

Light took a quick glance back at Espurr's sleeping form. "Even if it's not all fun and games."

"My friend introduced Ampharos to me," Amaranth explained. "Told me that he would help. And he did. He helped me get out of jail a lot faster then I should have, helped me find a place to study medicine and healing, and even gave me a job despite the fact that I lack an official certificate. He's a bumbling, naïve, idiot for doing that and trusting someone like me…but I can't pretend I'm not grateful for it. Even if there are some annoying parts of the job."

Light rubbed the back of his head with his left paw. "Hey…thanks for telling us all this. With…what Buizel said…I was starting to worry about you. But now that I got to know you better, I'm not worried anymore. I'm sure you'll be helpful on this Expedition."

Amaranth turned away again. "If you don't want to trust me, then don't," she rebuked. "I told you before, you don't have to. And I haven't even told you what got me in jail, either. You two still know nothing about me."

"Well…yeah but…" Light faltered, but Amaranth shook her head.

"Take it from someone who knows; every outlaw has some sort of a sob story. We all like to pretend the world is so unfair to us and complain about it all the time. Some of them will try and form a 'connection' with you only to stab you in the back later. In a way, you should still be wary of me. For as far as you know, I could be tricking you. I could be just saying what you want to hear, only to lead you into a trap later."

"I still trust you," Light confessed.

Amaranth sighed. "I suppose I can't stop you. Fine, do what you want. Just get some sleep for now, kid. It's getting late and we've got a lot we need to do tomorrow."

Amaranth continued starting into the setting sun, which was only now a sliver on the horizon. Light guessed that any attempt at conversation from this point on wouldn't go anywhere. So he unwrapped his bag from around him and placed it down to his side before lying down on Lapras's back and looking into the purple sky. Once he got comfortable, he placed his paws behind his back, closed his eyes, and listened to the calm sound of the waves.

Before he could sleep, though, Light felt something brush against him as Fennix whispered into his ears. "Do you really trust Amaranth that much?"

"I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt," Light whispered back. "Plus, I also trust the Chief. If he believes that she's good now, and if she's realized her mistakes, then I'm perfectly willing to trust her. You don't?"

"I don't know what to think," Fennix admitted. "She really likes to get on my nerves. And I know she's doing it intentionally too! But…she does seem to be a good doctor at least. I don't know if I like her, but I guess I can trust her. Or at least, I trust you and you trust her. You know, something like that."

"That was…poorly worded, but I think I get what you mean," Light teased with a chuckle.

"Well I'm sorry I'm not as articalate as you!" Fennix growled.

"That's 'articulate'," Light corrected with a smile on his face.

"Jerk."

Light only responded with a chuckle. "She's right about one thing, at least." Light looked over to the horizon with an introspective gaze on his face. "I think…there's always a side to everyone, even if we don't really notice it. Even to the worst of Pokémon, there's a reason why they became like that."

Fennix noticed his gaze and looked at him with understanding. "You thinking about who I think you're thinking about?"

Light sighed as he felt a slight pain in his heart. "Let's just go to sleep for now. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

* * *

 **And so we know Amaranth's backstory. In only Chapter 6. Well, that was quick.**

 **Well, that's not all of her backstory. For example, we don't know what she did to get in jail, nor do we know who she was before she ended up in the slammer (though some of you might be able to guess). But Amaranth was quick to mention that she was indeed in jail. And we also learned that she's stuck as a Land Forme shaymin.**

 **If you've read my stories Explorers stories, this makes her a contrast to the shaymin that appears there, Rain. Rain prefers Sky Forme while Amaranth is stuck in Land Forme. Rain is carefree and lighthearted while Amaranth is serious and abrasive. Rain is part of an Exploration Team and is good friends with them, Amaranth is part of a larger group and isolates herself away from the other members. Having the two contrast each other is not an intentional goal of this story; Amaranth's personality has other reasons for being here, but I find it interesting nevertheless.**

 **Beta read by TheGOAT**


	8. Moonlit Forest

The Lapras Liner did not go to Noe Town when Team Rebirth reached the Mist Continent, as Light and Fennix had expected. Instead, once they reached Mist, Lapras immediately went north along the northern line, following the shore. As they kept going, they saw ice starting to float in the waters and they felt the temperature drop.

"Something happen in Noe Town?" Light asked.

Amaranth shook her head. "Ampharos would warn us if something like that happened. No, it's probably because Ampharos asked the liner to take us as close to the Moonlit Forest as possible, and Moonlit Forest is in the north."

"That's correct," Larpas said. Light and Fennix turned around to look at her head. "I'm taking you to the nearest shore to the Moonlit Forest. Don't try and come back there, though. I won't be there. I still have a job to do."

"Don't we all," Amaranth dismissed.

"I suppose we should wake up Espurr then," Light thought out loud.

"Might be a good idea," Amaranth said. "It shouldn't take us too much longer until we reach our destination. That, and I need to administer her medication to keep her from using Psychic moves and her pain meds. Better to do that on Lapras then on land."

So Light and Fennix walked across Lapras's shell until they reached her neck, where Espurr was still sleeping soundly. Light got to her first and shook her as softly on her shoulder as possible. Luckily, that was enough, as Espurr stirred quickly and eventually opened up her eyes. The first thing she did was look into Light's face.

"Am I…still dreaming?" Espurr asked.

Light gave her a confused glance. "Why would you be dreaming about waking up to me?"

At that point, Espurr fully opened her eyes up and stood up with a surprised and embarrassed expression. "L-Light, sorry! I…I wasn't paying attention! I was just thinking of something else! I was just…my sickness and things like that…you know…"

"Kid, you're just digging yourself deeper," Amaranth rolled her eyes.

"Sorry," Espurr mumbled before turning her head away for a few seconds.

"Are you okay this morning?" Light asked.

"I feel about the same as I did yesterday," Espurr said when she regained her composure. "Which I suppose is a good thing. At least I'm not worse than yesterday."

"You need to take your medicine, though," Amaranth commanded. "Otherwise you _will_ start feeling worse."

Espurr paused, and a pained look appeared on her normally stoic face for just a second. "I…understand," Espurr spoke with great hesitation.

Amaranth walked from her position near Lapras's tail to Espurr's position, using Psychic while she was walking to reach into her green medical bag and grab out a bottle of medication. Light recognized the black coloring of the liquid in the bottle she grabbed out as the specific medication that prevented Espurr from using Psychic moves. Espurr herself looked less than thrilled as she looked at the medication, but she drank it anyways.

"What's that stuff taste like, anyways?" Fennix asked, as Espurr was gulping down.

"…Extremely bitter," Espurr answered when she was done. Light noticed no emotion on her face as she said it.

Amaranth scoffed. "I don't recommend becoming a compulsive liar."

Fennix looked at Amaranth, her brow furling and smoke coming out of her nose. "What gives you the right to call Espurr a liar?!"

"Being the doctor who knows about her medication helps," Amaranth hissed. "I'd like to remind you guys, this medicine is powerful enough to surpass moves. The biological ramifications of preventing a Pokémon from using moves is…not a fun topic to talk about. This medication is pretty much a last resort and only used in situations like this one, when the continued generation of whatever element the Pokémon uses is harmful to them. Otherwise, we keep this medication under lock and key to prevent its misuse. It won't kill her, but I know for a fact it neither tastes good nor feels good."

"I'll…I'll be fine," Espurr grunted.

Amaranth started giving Espurr a skeptical look, but she quickly rolled her eyes and looked away. "Whatever."

Light, deciding this conversation was going to go sour fast, decided to look out over the horizon. "We're almost there," the pikachu announced after seeing some mountains off in the distance.

"Really?" Espurr asked. She quickly walked up to Lapras's right side to look as well. "You know those mountains?"

"I've never been there before myself, but it's on our map data for the Pokémon Nexus," Light explained, his eyes still on the mountains. "It's called the Rusty Mountain Range due to the mountains having a red tint from the soil. I believe it's called 'red clay soil' or something like that."

"Really?" Espurr had a lot of interest and joy in her voice, something Light was glad to give her. "That's interesting. And where's Moonlit Forest? Where are my parents?"

"Just north of the Rusty Mountains," Light informed her, glad to keep some sort of happy conversation going. "There's only a small lake between the Rusty Mountain Range and the Moonlit Forest. The trees of the Moonlit Forest are so thick that the sun can't pour through it either. Except for moonlight, for some reason. That's where it gets its name from."

"Does that mean we have to wait until night before we can start exploring it?" Espurr asked, her voice quickly falling.

"Great, more waiting," Amaranth groaned.

"With a Fire-type around?" Fennix bragged with a large smile on her face. "Nah, we won't need to do that!"

Both Amaranth and Espurr looked at Fennix with surprise. Light rolled his eyes, but admittedly couldn't help but chuckle at her energy. He liked it when Fennix was full of life and cheerful much more than her being suspicious and abrasive.

"We've had a few times where we've had to explore extremely dark dungeons for Expedition Society work," Light explained to the rest of the group. "And they've been rather annoying. At least…they were until Fennix did something brilliant and stupid at the same time."

Light reached into his bag and grabbed out a Warp Wand. The pikachu held it high over his head while Fennix positioned herself so that her nose was pointing at the tip of the wand. After that, the fennekin blasted out a small Ember attack straight at the wand, Amaranth and Espurr crying out in surprise as she did so. The fire hit the wand and it suddenly burst into a flash of brilliant bright green. When the flash disappeared and everyone's eyes could see again, they saw that the tip of the wand was lit with a bright green fire.

"What…in the world?" Amaranth asked. "You lit…a wand…on FIRE?!"

"I figured we could make some sort of makeshift torch or something," Fennix spouted with a shrug. "And we did. And it turns out that using fire on different types of wands makes different types of fires. So we took out one of every wand one night and lit them all on fire. And we now know which wand burns the brightest."

"I swear, only you two would try something so insane," Amaranth critiqued.

"Honestly…I never really use wands that much anyways," Light admitted with a chuckle, rubbing the back of his head as he did so. "They're so difficult to use that I only used to use them while I was getting used to my moves. Nowadays, I almost never bother."

"But it works," Fennix announced with spirit in her voice. "And Guiding Wands burn the brightest. So all we need is for Light and Espurr to hold some lit Guiding Wands and we'll be able to explore just fine!"

"The wand's useless after being lit, though, and they don't last forever," Light explained. "Espurr, if it starts feeling too hot, tell Fennix and have her stamp it out."

"Alright," Espurr promised. "But that's honestly brilliant. Crazy, but brilliant. Wish we knew that back when we were in the Ancient Barrow. It would have helped a lot."

"Yep!" Fennix sang with a hop. "No scary ghosts would have been able to sneak up on us then!"

Amaranth sighed. "I…guess it keeps us from waiting until tonight. Whatever. We're almost there, so get ready to disembark everyone."

* * *

It was only a quick run over the mountain before Team Rebirth made it to the Moonlit Forest. The point they made it to the forest from the east had thick enough trees that made passing through it impossible, so it was decided that they would walk clockwise around the forest until they found a good place to enter. Their hasty hike lead them to the southern point of the forest, with the Rusty Mountain visible behind them. There is where they found a split in the forest that would let them in.

Once they reached the entrance, Light pulled out the photo of Espurr's parents to compare it to the scene in front of them, Fennix and Espurr both pressing against his sides to look at it as well. Though the time of day was clearly different between the two, as the skies in the photo were darker red instead of the blue that filled the skies, there were other similarities. The trees in both the picture and the forest both flew high into the sky. Both were also wreathed in blue leaves, a departure from the normal green. As they looked between the photo and the forest, they became more and more certain. This had to be the place they were looking for.

"T-this…this is the place my parents were standing in front of!" the Psychic-type exclaimed.

Light put the picture back in his bag and gave a determined look. "Yep, we're here."

"Whether Espurr's parents will be there or not, that remains to be seen," Amaranth discouraged.

"You know, you could at least be a little supportive!" Fennix growled.

"I'm a realist," Amaranth responded nonchalantly, not even bothering to look at Fennix. "And realistically, a photo from what could've been over Fifteen years does not mean they're here now."

"There's only one way to find out," Light interrupted, getting between Fennix and Amaranth to stop their argument. "Let's get our makeshift torches ready and head on in there."

"Alright," Espurr said.

"…Fine," Fennix groaned, but Light could tell by her expression that she still had a less than positive impression of Amaranth. However, Light knew that something like this wouldn't fix itself without time.

So Light grabbed out two Guiding Wands from his bag before walking up to Espurr to give her one. Espurr grabbed it and both the bipeds held their wands together so the points were touching. Fennix walked up to both of them and shot an Ember straight at the point of the wand. They both flashed before lighting up in a brilliant white light, one that was so bright Light had to cover his eyes with his right paw for a few seconds until he got used to it. Light got used to it quickly and saw that Espurr was used to it as well.

"Alright, let's go," Light said.

"Finally!" Fennix sang. "Time to explore!"

So the four Pokémon stepped through the opening in the forest and went into the darkness. However, the bright light from their wands allowed them to easily see through the forest, regardless of how dark it was. The world around them was murky, and the long shadows cast from the torch let out a rather eerie atmosphere, but Light couldn't imagine what they would have done without the makeshift torches.

The trees were very thick, to the point where there wasn't much walking room around anywhere. They were also so thick that, even with the two white torches, they still weren't able to see much of anything in there. A wall of trees blocks them in almost every point, making navigation around the place rather difficult.

"Well…these torches… are helping," Espurr mused as they squeezed through the upteenth group of trees. "I can't imagine…not seeing anything…here."

"Well…at least we aren't running into trees or anything," Light chuckled. "We know where the gaps in the trees are."

"If you want to call those 'gaps'," Fennix complained.

Light checked back at her and saw that she was looking at her tail, which was disheveled and full of twigs. The pikachu could empathize with her, as he had a few twigs and pieces of bark stuck in his fur as well. Light was able to take the pieces off his chest, but his sides and back were still covered. It was annoying, but he had better things to worry about.

"Enemies are approaching," Amaranth whispered quickly.

Everyone looked at her. "How do you know?" Light asked.

"One of the few perks of being a Mythical Pokémon. I have a sixth sense. Not a reliable one, but one nevertheless. There are two of them. Coming from ahead. Should be in your light in a few seconds."

"Know what they are?" Light shifted his torch from his left hand to his right.

"No. My senses aren't really that sharp. Especially…lately. Grass or Poison Pokémon are most likely considering we're in a forest, but you can expect other types. There almost always are."

"Heh, Grass and Poison are no problem!" Fennix said confidently.

"Amaranth, can you fight?" Light asked as he turned around to face where the enemies come from, charging electricity in his left paw.

"Yes, I can," Amaranth answered. "I'm heavily out of practice—jail does that to a Pokémon—but I've fought before plenty of times. And I'm a Mythical Pokémon. I can hold my own."

"Good." Light turned his attention back on the enemies. "Let's form a wall. Espurr, stay behind us. Once we start attacking, find a good point to fire wands when you feel you need to. Otherwise, stay in the back and out of sight."

So Light, Fennix, and Amaranth all went side-by-side, Fennix on Light's right while Amaranth on Light's left, while Espurr snuck up behind them. There, the three of them stood, waiting for sight of whatever Pokémon would come out from the darkness and attack them. Light specifically held out his torch as far as his right arm could reach to make sure he caught them in the light as soon as possible.

And eventually they appeared within the light, the two Pokémon that Amaranth sensed. One was a croagunk and the other a whirlipede. Light immediately took stock of both the Pokémon and formed a plan in his mind.

"Whirlipede is Poison/Bug," Espurr whispered in his ear. "It's not too powerful, but it's pretty defensive. And Croagunk is Poison/Fighting. It'll likely focus on physical attacks."

Light nodded to indicate he heard her. He raised his right paw in front of Fennix before pointing her towards the whirlipede. While he was sure Amaranth and Espurr were confused right now, he had no doubts that his partner understood what he was trying to convey. And a quick glance at the fennekin showed a smile and a nod.

"Amaranth, you'll focus on the croagunk with me," Light said, his comforting voice gone as he focused specifically on the battle ahead. "Back me up from range while I get in close. Espurr, if you can find an opening, fire at whatever you can with your wand."

"You like to attack close rang-" Amaranth started to ask, but she quickly shook her head. "Never mind, we've got a battle to do right now. I know Air Slash and Psychic. Also Energy Ball, but that won't help now."

The pikachu quickly rushed forward at the croagunk, finally unleashing the energy he had built up in his left paw into a powerful Thunderpunch. The attack was too fast for the croagunk to do anything but look shocked, so Light smashed the electrical punch into its stomach and knocked it back a couple of feet, hearing the thud as it impacted the ground. While he did that, he saw out of the corner of his right eye that a series of small flames hit the whirlipede before it started rolling off, likely drawn by Fennix.

 _Fennix, Espurr, I hope you two stay okay,_ Light thought as he focused on the croagunk's counter attack. It wreathed both it's paws in poisonous purple and began thrusting at Light. Light jumped back to give himself some space before wreathing his tail in silver steel and pulling it over his body to block the attacks. The Poison Jabs bounced off his Iron Tail harmlessly, a confident smirk forming on Light's lips as he remained unharmed.

The croagunk jumped back after it saw its attacks weren't working, so Light crouched down and got ready for whatever the Poison/Fighting-type would use on him next. Its arms glowed white and it flew at Light with that instead. Light recognized that as Brick Break and immediately canceled his Iron Tail to jump back. When the croagunk got in the right position with its flurry of attacks, Light charged electricity in his fist and knocked it back with Thunderpunch.

With the few seconds of reprieve Light had, he decided to take stock of the battlefield, particularly since he wondered why Amaranth hadn't joined in the battle. But, his glance showed that the shaymin was nowhere to be seen. So Light searched for a bit longer, wondering why he couldn't see anything.

"Light, duck!" the pikachu heard Espurr say from somewhere around him. He wasn't exactly sure what the psychic cat was planning, but he ducked anyways. Over his head came the light from a wand, hitting the croagunk dead in the forehead. Light took this opportunity to hit the Poison/Fighting-type with another Thunderpunch, knocking it out.

"T-thanks Espurr," Light praised as he turned to find her, seeing her hiding just behind a tree a bit away. "But weren't you focusing on Fennix?"

"I…couldn't get a clear shot," Espurr stammered. "Fennix and the whirlepede were going too fast. Then I saw you were in trouble so…"

"I told you thanks, and I meant it," Light interrupted before she felt bad about herself. "But have you seen Amaranth?"

"I've been here this entire time." Light saw some of the shrubbery move next to the croagunk until that shrubbery revealed itself to be Amaranth, hiding in the grass. "I was waiting for you to knock that croagunk close to me so I could attack, but that didn't end up happening."

"Oh…okay," Light mumbled, a sigh escaping his lips and his ears drooping. He stopped focusing on that, though, as he still had other things to do.

Light looked around for a few seconds to see where Fennix and the whirlepede were and what they were doing. Luckily, he found them quickly and saw the end of the fight. The whirlipede was rolling at a rapid pace towards Fennix, but the fennekin didn't look deterred at all. Once it got a few feet away, she quickly dodged to her right side, flames whirling around her as she did so. With her fiery charge, she slammed into the Bug/Poison-type's right side, sending it flying into the air. Fennix's eyes lit up as she saw that, so she blew a swirling whirlwind of flames around it while it was defenseless. By the time the storm was done, the Pokemon fell to the ground like a lifeless rock.

"Woo! That was awesome!" Fennix cheered.

"How many Flame Charges did you use?" Amaranth groaned.

"What's it matter?" Fennix asked. "I beat it, didn't I?"

Amaranth sighed. "Hope you brought a bunch of Elixirs, Light, because you're going to need it. Or more like she's going to need it."

Light saw the anger in Fennix's face and knew what was coming soon, so he quickly changed the subject. "At least we made it through all that stuff."

"Well, that was an experience, at least," Amaranth dismissed. "If only it could be over."

"There's more?!" Light, Fennix, and Espurr all yelled, all three of them looking around for oncoming enemies.

Amaranth shrugged. "Yep, two more."

Light eventually saw them in their wand fire, a meinfoo and a leavanny. The meinfoo was dashing towards Espurr, closing in at a rather fast pace. So Light instantly reacted, rushing to meet the meinfoo with a Thunderpunch. The two attacks met and they blew each other back. Light felt his left paw throb in pain, and he instinctively wanted to grab his shoulder with his right paw, but he resisted that to avoid burning himself with his lit torch. The meinfoo didn't look too perturbed, though, and instantly rushed back to attack again.

"Ugg…Amaranth, Air Slash!" Light suggested. "Fennix, Psybeam!"

"Thanks detective pikachu, I clearly don't know about type advantages," Amaranth snarked while blasting her razor-sharp air at the meinfoo. Fennix also shot her Psybeam at the opponent. The dual attacks easily knocked the Fighting-type out.

Light looked around to find the leavanny, but he saw no trace of the Pokémon anywhere he looked. Instead, he saw Espurr panting and placing her right paw on her chest. And in that right paw he also saw a Warp Wand. Light quickly put two and two together and figured out what happened.

"Good going, Espurr!" Light praised. "You hit that leavanny!"

"I…yeah I did…but barely," Espurr doubted. "And that's mostly because it was distracted with you guys. If only I...had my psychic powers..."

"Still, two groups of enemies at once?" Fennix asked. "That's weird. Usually we get a break in between fights. What's happening here?"

"Think for five seconds," Amaranth groaned. "It's not too hard."

Light looked at the lit torch in his right paw. "…We're attracting them because we're the only source of life around," Light realized. "Oh…crap. This isn't good."

"Congratulations, you figured it out," Amaranth mocked.

"Great…if we keep fighting like this, we'll run out of energy way too quick," Light mused. "…We'll have to be careful and work to conserve our energy. We've got plenty of supplies, but I'd rather not use them all just on this. We don't know when the chance to restock is."

"Hopefully soon," Espurr pleaded. "I…I'd hate for us to run out."

"We'll be fine," Light assured with a smile. "We just have to do what we can."

* * *

 **AN: I apologize for this taking so long. To make a long story short, my old computer died and I had to get a new one. I saved the chapter on a Gdocs, expecting this to happen, so the chapter itself was still there, but I obviously need a computer to post it.**

 **Anyways, here we get the first instances of the team fighting wild opponents, and Amaranth being Amaranth in the process. However, I wanted mostly to focus on Espurr here and how she's contributing to the team without access to any of her moves and with most of her physical capabilities greatly hindered by her illness. And to begin Espurr's development in this story.**

 **Beta read by TheGOAT**

 **A special thanks to Adam_Hu and Flareon71 for constant reviews and to all those who have faved and followed the story.**


	9. Blood Moon Bandits

The crew continued through the Moonlit Forest at a steady pace, easily able to take down whatever opponents were in their way This was partially thanks to Amaranth's sheer power as a Mythical (assuming she decided to help that battle) and Light and Fennix's knowledge gained from their jobs in the Expedition Society. Espurr, both being sick and facing enemies that often moved quickly, wasn't able to really help much. It would cause her face to fall for a few seconds before she put on her stoic mask once more. Light noticed it, and tried to give her a comforting glance, but he couldn't stare at the Espurr for long before he had to check for enemies. So he could do nothing about it in the dungeon.

But, Light being Light, he still wanted to help the Psychic-type with whatever discomfort she might be having at the moment that they could fix. So he slowed down reach her side and spoke with a comforting smile on his face. "Hey Espurr, how's your torch feeling? Is it getting hot, yet?"

"A little," Espurr answered, glancing at her makeshift torch. "It's not that bad, though."

"Well, there don't seem to be any Wilds around right now, so how about you give that torch to Fennix and get a new one?" Light stopped to look back at her. "Better now than it getting too hot while we're in the middle of a fight."

Espurr's stoic face refused to give anything away, but it took a few seconds before she spoke again. "Alright, I guess."

Fennix stopped as well at Light's words and turned back to get the torch from Espurr. While the two were doing that, Light walked up to Amaranth to check up on her. The Land Forme Shaymin was also watching the exchange between Fennix and Espurr with an unreadable expression.

"Have you sensed any enemies?" Light asked.

"Not recently," Amaranth hastily whispered. "But unfortunately, my sixth sense isn't the best. We were lucky I managed to sense those first few enemies. So just because I can't sense anything doesn't mean they aren't there, and that worries me a little. We faced Wilds at a decent rate throughout this dungeon at first, but it's been way to quiet lately. I don't like it."

Light felt his heart skip a beat. "You think something's wrong?"

Amaranth nodded, looking at him with a deadly look. "I've had a bad feeling since we entered this dungeon, and it's only grown worse. And that's not a good thing. When a Mythical Pokémon has a bad feeling, you should pay attention."

"Wish I had my telepathy," Espurr sighed. Light and Amaranth looked over at her to see that she had a new torch already. "Then I could tell you what's coming up. I'd know everything that's happening around here."

"Sadly, you don't right now," Amaranth sharply reminded her with a glare. "Unfortunately, I still can't shake this feeling. There's something wrong here, though I can't quite figure out what."

Amaranth eventually grabbed out her Expedition Gadget and began calling. Light and Fennix both gave her odd looks as she did so, but Amaranth was only focused on her gadget. Light decided that they would figure out what she's up to faster if they got out their own gadgets and connected to the same line she was using.

"Hey, Chief!" Amaranth called as soon as she went through the static.

"It's Dedenne," Dedenne flatly answered from the other side of the gadgets. "These things don't connect directly to Ampharos, remember? That, and it's the middle of the night over here."

Dedenne had barely finished her sentence when Amaranth barked her response. "Fine, then get the Chief up! This is important!"

"I'll try," Dedenne groaned. "But I'm not exactly in the building right now. So you better hope he's up late, because I'm not going to the Expedition Society base to wake him."

Amaranth closed her eyes and let out a deep breath, Light suspecting that she was pooling into whatever patience she had left. "Dedenne, this is important. I wouldn't be calling you if it wasn't."

Dedenne was silent. all they could hear from the other side of the gadget was static. Amaranth groaned, and when Light took a glance towards her, he saw her clutching the gadget forcefully in her tiny paw. So much that Light was almost worried it would break. Looking at her reaction almost gave Light an unsettled feeling himself.

Eventually, the static cleared and Ampharos's tired voice came from the gadget. "Hello, my friends, what do you need?"

Amaranth quickly spoke as soon as the Cheif's question ended. "Ampharos, when's the last time an adventurer from H.A.P.P.I came to the Moonlit Forest?"

"That's…not exactly easy information to find out, especially this late at night. Why? What's wrong?"

"A feeling I've got. There's something wrong here, and I want to figure out what that is. Preferably before we all go too far."

"Alright, I'll help with what little I know. I think it's been more than two years since H.A.P.P.I surveyed the forest, but that's all I know. I'm not entirely sure whether any adventurers took any missions in the Moonlit Forest, as only H.A.P.P.I's main headquarters has that information, and they wouldn't give it to any of us."

Light felt a shiver crawl down his spine and his heart started beating faster. "Is it seriously that bad?"

"I could be entirely wrong, but if this place has been abandoned for a while and is like this…" Amaranth paused for a moment to look around. "Then that means…I'm almost positive that…"

"This place is an outlaw group's hideout!"

"What?!" Light, Fennix, and Espurr all yelled at the same time.

"Pfft, they found us out," a gruff voice from above said.

"Too bad, we could have taken them farther in," another voice said with a cocky voice. "Boss isn't going to be happy."

"Whatever. We'll just drag them in in," another voice said.

As the voices spoke, Light felt heavier, like someone increased the weight on his shoulders. He could feel his heartbeat increase and sweat roll down his spine. Adrenaline pumped through his veins and his body shook because of that.

"Who's there?!" Fennix asked, her eyes darting wildly around to try and identify the voices.

A group of six Pokémon jumped from the trees, making a cramped circle around the four Pokémon. Light took a quick look around to see what types of Pokémon they were dealing with. They were a noctowl, houndoom, nidorino, stunky, litleo, and vibrava. Light took another look around at them so that he could formulate a plan.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" Light asked to stall for time as he thought.

"We are the Blood Moon Bandits," the noctowl said. "And as for what we want..." He gave an evil chuckle. "I'll let you figure that out."

Amaranth let out a sudden and loud laugh. Her laughter was so loud that everyone, both the Blood Moon Bandits and Team Rebirth, gave her a confused glance. Light was just about ready to cut her out of the plan, since he found nothing funny about being outnumbered by a bandit group.

"Seriously?" Amaranth eventually asked after she was done laughing. "The 'Blood Moon Bandits?' That is seriously the name you're going with? Did you have a school kid name your group or something?"

"Uhh…should we be offended?" Fennix whispered to the other two school kids.

"A part of me wants to say 'yes'," Espurr deadpanned.

"If it keeps the bandits distracted, I don't care," Light said, his mind still formulating a strategy as his eyes went away from Amaranth and towards all the bandits.

"Like, could you guys pick a name more pretentious?" Amaranth continued. She raised her voice and cackled mockingly. "'Our name has blood in it! Fear us! We need to be feared in order for our pointless lives to be vindicated! Fear us!'"

"And who exactly asked you?" the stunky asked.

"I'm sorry, but you actually had a decent set up," Amaranth chuckled. "You walked around in the dark, had a decent set up for ambushing us, and had the numbers to back it up. You could have been intimidating. And then you ruined it with your name. You might want to work on that."

"Noctowl, this shaymin is getting on my nerves," the stunky growled.

"It doesn't matter," Noctowl dismissed. "The boss will enjoy the haul we brought in. Three new slaves from the kid, and we can probably sell the Mythical Pokémon for a lot of money. So learn to deal with her. She'll be making us all rich."

"Sl-Slaves?" Fennix whimpered. "Light, please tell me you've thought of something!"

"Yeah, I have," Light whispered intensely, watching the outlaws actions with an eagle eye as he spoke his plan. "Amaranth, if you can, keep them distracted."

"I think I'm more likely to annoy them then anything, but I can try," she dryly droned. "Don't expect too much time."

While Amaranth began talking to the outlaws to distract them, Light focused on the battle at hand. They were outnumbered, surrounded, and there wasn't much room for combat thanks to how enclosed the trees were. He looked back at Espurr and thought of the fact that she was having trouble fighting, something that made things even more difficult. He looked at Amaranth, who seemed to spend more time hiding then actually fighting in previous battles. And Light thought of her last words before they were jumped; that they were close to a bandit camp. And he realized one thing.

They could not win this fight.

So instead, Light thought of a way they could escape, specifically focusing on the three Pokemon that were blocking the way they came; noctowl, vibrava, and houndoom. He focused on them, and how they could get past.

Light gave both Fennix and Espurr a serious look. "We need to get out of here, you guys. We can't win this. Let's focus on the three Pokémon blocking the way we came and escape."

Espurr looked at the three Pokémon, and Light could almost see her brain in motion as she figured out how best to take them down. The pikachu himself had his eyes set on that noctowl, hoping that a strong electric attack could take it down without too much trouble. But he needed a plan for the other two.

"Espurr, what do you know about vibrava and houndoom?" Light asked as he looked at her.

Espurr looked back, her face determined. "Vibrava is Dragon/Ground and houndoom is Fire/Dark. I don't think there's much any of us can do on the later, especially if it has Flash Fire."

Light looked back at their opponents and mused. "Fennix and Amaranth should be able to take the vibrava, assuming Amaranth heard me." He looked towards the shaymin, who was still talking with the outlaws, but saw no indication that she was listening on her face. With a long sigh, he decided to place his trust in her anyways. "But the houndoom…Espurr, you're going to need to hit it with a Slumber Wand, or Petrify Wand. Something. We can't fight that thing quickly."

"I'll…try my best." Light looked and saw that Espurr didn't have the most confident look on her face, but she was already feeling the wand in her right paw and was focusing on the houndoom. "But…what if they follow us?"

Light's voice got caught up in his throat. He realized that he didn't really have an answer to that question. However, they didn't have the time for discussion like that, so he just shook his head.

"Worry about that later, worry about getting out of this mess now," Light commanded.

"I'll handle it," Fennix assured. "I've got an idea. Trust me."

"Good." Light checked the outlaws and it seemed, whatever Amaranth was doing, it was working, so he continued on with the plan. "Once we're past the outlaws, grab my paw, Espurr, while you grab Fennix. Hold on to her scarf. That way we can stick together. I don't know what Amaranth can do but…I'll just have to hope she'll be fine on her own."

"Sounds like a plan," Fennix smirked confidently. "Let's do it."

"Alright." Light focused his attention specifically on the noctowl while charging electricity into his left paw. "On my signal…"

"So how are we going to do this?" the noctowl asked. "The easy way, or the hard way?"

Light smirked, his smile hiding how nervous he was. "Do you need to ask?" Light asked. "Now!"

Light suddenly rushed forward in a flash and slammed into the noctowl in the chin, sending it flying into the trees. From the corner of his eyes, he saw the two attacks hitting the vibrava, and the wand fire hitting houndoom. The pikachu flipped his wand from his right paw to his left and extended out the currently unused paw. He breathed out slightly as he felt Espurr grab his paw, and with that, the pikachu hit the ground running.

From behind, Light could feel heat on the back of his skin and could smell a foul odor, telling him that the remaining three wern't just going to stand around. He glanced back and saw out of the corner of his eyes that Amaranth blocked several attacks—Ember, Poison Sting, and Sludge Bomb—headed for them with her Air Slash. That was all he could see before a large burst of light flashed before his eyes, accompanied by a sudden increase in temperature. One his eyes adjusted he saw a large wall of flames between his group and the outlaws, with a certain fennekin looking triumphantly at them. Light's ears dropped at the sight, but once Fennix reached Espurr and the Psychic-type grabbed onto her, he knew he had other things to focus on. So the pikachu ran faster again.

The initial burst of light lit up the forest as if the sun had suddenly appeared within it, allowing easy navigation at first. However, a few seconds later they found themselves beyond the light of the forest fire that Fennix made. There, they only had the light of their torches to guide them, so Light slowed down a little to avoid walking into trees in the dim lighting.

And there was one other thing Light wanted to check on while walking. "Espurr, sorry about the rush. Are you okay?"

"I-I'm alive," Espurr panted.

"Guys, I see someone behind!" Fennix yelled, causing Light's breath to leave his lungs in a woosh. Light looked behind the fennekin to see that, indeed, they had one figure following behind.

Light stopped, causing everyone else to stop as well. "It's only one guy, get ready for battle! We'll sweep them away before moving on."

"It's just me you idiots!" a familiar abrasive voice barked at them. "Now run! Some of them are still after us!"

"Got it!" Light yelled back.

The pikachu turned back around and once again rushed forward, the makeshift torch allowing him to better navigate the forest. He ran with little worry of his own safety, causing scrapes and cuts over his body due to some branch or stick he missed while navigating his path. There were also a few Wilds that tried attacking him, but Light completely ignored them. He felt a scratch here and there, and he was sure other attacks hit his allies, but the pikachu ran regardless. Nothing else mattered but him and his friend's escaping

Light kept running, the only senses he paid attention to being the slight vision he was given from the wand and the feel of Espurr's soft paw on his own. His ears were also perked just in case Fennix or Espurr called out, but all he could hear from them was panting, so he continued on regardless. His greater thought processes were all shut down for only a mindless sprint through the dungeon. Light cared about nothing else, thought of nothing else, but running through the forest and away from the bandits with his friends.

Eventually, though, they saw a golden light ahead of them, partially obscured by trees. When Light saw that light, and realized what it meant, he felt his heart skip a little, and the weariness that was slowly creeping in just vanished. Hope welled in him as he made his final mad dash through whatever trees he could until finally the light filled his eyes completely. It took a few seconds, but he eventually saw it. The golden sky of the sunset outside of the forest. They managed to escape.

"Fennix…Espurr…are you still there?" Light panted, wanting to keep running still instead of looking back.

"Yeah…we are," Fennix also panted.

"Let's…take refuge in the Rusty Mountains," Light panted. "We'll…gather our bearings there."

"Sounds like a good idea," Amaranth said, her voice nowhere near as fatigued as everyone else's.

It took them a while longer of running, but they eventually made it inside the Rusty Mountain Range. Light looked for a tall mountain to climb up so they could see any enemy coming towards them from a mile away. Eventually, he found a good place, a mountain that wasn't too steep but was rather high, and ran towards there. It took a bit, and even if the incline wasn't that large it was still an incline, but they eventually made it to the top of the mountain.

Once they did, the first thing Light did was let go of Amaranth's paw and collapse on the hard ground. The fatigue, the pain, everything that he was ignoring to make it to that place, all rushed to him in a wave and nearly knocked him out. Light still held on, though, since there were still things that he was obligated to do.

"Espurr…" Light huffed, though he realized how soft his voice was. "Are…you okay?"

"Define…okay," Espurr answered. "I'm…probably better than you two are…though. My head…does hurt a lot…though."

Eventually, Light felt smooth glass touch his lips. Light opened his mouth and drank from it, quickly recognizing the taste as the liquid trickled across his tongue and down his throat. It was apple juice, a much more concentrated apple juice then he was used to, but apple juice all the same.

"Th-thanks," Light stuttered out, feeling his energy starting to return back to him.

"Don't thank me yet," Amaranth dismissed. "You have scratches and scrapes all over you with some twigs and sticks stuck in there. Once I'm done with you and Fennix, you two won't be thanking me at all."

Light chuckled, already knowing that something like that would happen soon. "Would it surprise you if I told you…that I've felt worse?"

"You have?" Fennix groaned. "Because…I think disappearing was less painful…then this."

Light shook his head. "Fennix…please don't joke about that."

Amaranth ignored the conversation. "We're going to need to hurry, though." Light imagined that she was looking down the mountain. "If we're unlucky, the Blood Moon Bandits will be coming after us eventually, and if they happen to find us, we need to move at a moment's notice. So I can't exactly be gentle with this."

"W-what does that mean?" Fennix asked.

Amaranth chuckled darkly. "Have fun, you two."

* * *

"OOOWWWW!" Fennix howled while Amaranth worked on her.

"You know, if you stopped struggling so much, this would go so much easier," Amaranth growled.

"Well maybe if you were gentler, I wouldn't be struggling so much!" Fennix retorted.

Light sighed as he listened to their struggles. Amaranth had already finished patching him up from his injuries in Moonlit Forest and he was feeling extremely sore from it. Plus, all the various patches soaked in Oran Juice all over his body stung and Light had to resist the temptation to rub them. So he could easily guess what his partner was going through. Removing the splinters and twigs, placing the Oran patches all across her body— it wasn't a pleasant experience. And while the pikachu was able to go through with that uncomplainingly, Fennix was much less compliant with the impatient doctor.

"Alright…just a bit more…" Amaranth applied one last patch on Fennix's cheek, earning her another complaint from the kid. "Okay, you're good now. You can stop whining."

"Finally!"

Light looked over at Fennix, now that Amaranth was done with her, and saw the various patches all over her sides and cheeks. She seemed to have a fair fewer then Light had over his body, likely because the pikachu lead while she followed. Espurr, who Amaranth was inspecting next, managed to get off without anything more than a few twigs in her fur due to her smaller size.

"S-so…Amaranth?" Light asked. "I-I'm sorry if this sounds bad but…I was wondering. Do…do maybe…"

"Don't bother beating around the bush," Amaranth barked, her eyes still on Espurr. "I really don't care."

Light paused for a moment, his breath caught in his throat. "Then…do you know about the Blood Moon Bandits?"

"Yeah, you had no reason to worry about saying that," Amaranth dismissed. "I was an outlaw, I'll admit it. So it stands to reason that I might know about other outlaw groups. And you're right, I have heard of the Blood Moon Bandits."

"You have?!" Fennix asked.

"The Blood Moon Bandits were a bandit group that was rather infamous on the Grass Continent some…ten or twenty years ago." Amaranth removed the last twig from Espurr and put one patch on her, right next to her cheek. "Espurr, you should be good. The Psychic Block hasn't progressed any. So long as you calm down a little, you shouldn't have to worry too much."

"Alright, thanks," Espurr slurred.

Getting back on subject, Fennix asked, "Ten or twenty years ago?"

Amaranth finally looked from Espurr at Fennix and groaned. "Shaymin are terrible at telling the passing of time. I know it was somewhere around ten or twenty years ago, I just don't know when. Besides, they were a bandit group. They were probably active for a while."

"Can you continue?" Light asked.

"Yes." Amaranth directed her attention to Light. "Anyways, I mocked them when we were around them, and their name is rather stupid, but the Blood Moon Bandits aren't exactly a group you want to mess with. They were the terrors of the Grass Continent when they were around. Their infamy was great enough to even reach me in the Water Continent."

"What did they do?"

"A better question would be to ask what they didn't do. Granted, I can't exactly pretend I know everything they did. Being another continent away from them meant the only thing I heard were rumors, and I've never met a member of their crew until today, but the stories were horrific."

"She says in the most uncaring voice possible," Fennix groaned softly to herself.

Light noticed Espurr shiver before she spoke. "T-they mentioned making us slaves."

"Yeah, that's one of the things I've heard," Amaranth said, nodding her head in confirmation. "They'd kidnap everyone they could, some of which they sold, some of which they returned for a hefty ransom. And if they couldn't get money out of you, you'd become their slaves. I've only heard rumors of what exactly they did with their slaves, and I wouldn't exactly recommend thinking about it. I'd like not to give all you kids nightmares."

Light looked over the mountainside. "Well, they don't seem to be following us, at least."

"I wouldn't count us out of the woods yet. The only advantage we have is that they _might_ , and this is a strong might, be relocating. Since we managed to escape and could inform the authorities at any moment, they could prioritize relocating over catching us. Depends on how badly we bruised their pride. They also might because they saw me communicating to Ampharos over my gadget and he's probably already told the cops on the Mist Continent about the outlaws. Of course, we don't know any of this for sure."

Fennix smiled pridefully. "I bet my fire also distracted them."

"One more question, though." Light grabbed out the Expedition Gadget from his scarf and looked at the map. "You told us that the Blood Moon Bandits used to be in the Grass Continent. We're almost as far away from there as possible in the known world. What exactly happened to them? And why are they here now?"

"That was two questions. And they're both answered with 'I don't know.' I told you, I wasn't a part of their crew. Even at my lowest, I still wasn't that low. I just one day stopped hearing about them. What made them disappear and why they're here now, I would have no clue. That being said, however…" Amaranth looked off in the sky, "I get the distinct feeling that both those things are connected. Not quite sure why, though."

"In any case," Amaranth turned her attention back to the group, "It's unlikely that we're going to find Espurr's parents there. And even if they are, there's no way the four of us would be able to go through all of the Blood Moon Bandits to find them. We'd need backup before even trying something like that."

"So, should we call in that friend of yours?" Light asked.

"I wouldn't exactly call her a friend, and we'll have to decide that later," Amaranth answered. "For now, we should rest while we can and go to Paradise Town. It's there where we'll decide our next move."

* * *

 **Author's note: So here the last of the setup has happened as we're introduced to the antagonists of this story, the Blood Moon Bandits. What they have to do with the story at large, you'll have to see later. But our protagonists narrowly avoid them and manage to escape. With Fennix lighting an entire forest on fire in order to aid them. Because that's just what she does.**

 **Nah, but this does highlight a difference between three of the Pokemon here. Light is a thinker and planner, Espurr is knowledgeable, and Fennix is pragmatic, willing to do things that Light wouldn't (mostly because they're dangerous). Then there's Amaranth, who's mostly a wild card currently. We'll just have to see where this dynamic takes them in the future.**

 **Beta read by TheGOAT.**


	10. Moonlit Talk

Night had fallen over the camp, and the cold was starting to settle in. The worst part was that Amaranth recommended they avoid starting a fire, as that would immediately clue the Blood Moon Bandits to their location. So Fennix and Espurr got close together for warmth while Amaranth and Light went off on their own to scout for the the bandits.

"Hope Light'll be fine," Fennix mused as Light was no longer in her field of vision.

"What makes you think he won't be?" Espurr asked.

Fennix just shrugged, still looking in the direction of where the two Pokémon left. "Light…doesn't really like the cold. It's honestly kinda funny sometimes. He's so calm everywhere else, even when we're going underwater—and that's the worst thing in the world—but he never looks forward to exploring cold areas."

"Well, I'm sure he'll be fine. Light's really strong, and he can always head back here if he's not feeling well."

Fennix looked back at Espurr and smiled cheerfully. "Yeah, I suppose you're right!"

"I wish I could help them, though." Espurr gave a longing look in the direction Amaranth left for. "With my telepathy, I'd be able to spot anyone that was coming up to us. They wouldn't be able to hide if only I could just…"

Espurr eventually trailed off, leaving her last words to die in the cold night. Fennix looked over at her in understanding, trying to think of something uplifting to say to the Psychic-type, something to comfort her. But her face contorted for a few seconds as she tried and she eventually just shook her head and said the first thing that came to her mind.

"You'll get it back soon, you know! We're going to find your parents, and they're gonna fix you right up!"

"You say that…but look where we are now." Espurr still had no emotion on her face, but her voice was cold. "Our only clue to where my parents are, and all that clue did was lead us all to a trap. A trap that has got an entire outlaw group to go after us. And if we can't find my parents to do it then…"

Fennix looked at the Restraint Pokémon with her mouth agape. Espurr always held on to her stoic expression, and this was no difference, but the sheer amount of fear in her voice was evident to the fennekin. It was such a sharp contrast to the calm voice that asked Amaranth how long she had left when she first heard of her Psychic Block. Fennix almost couldn't believe what she was hearing, and her shocked face was quickly seen by the Psychic-type.

"S-sorry, this isn't like me." Espurr shook her head and tried to mask her face with a smile. "Just…forget I said anything."

Silence was cast between the two of them, and during that time, Fennix's ears drooped and she looked to the floor. "I know how you feel right now, actually. I feel useless right now too."

"Why do you feel useless?" Espurr asked. "At least you're able to fight."

Fennix shook her head and looked forlornly in the distance. "So can Light and Amaranth. But it's those two that are coming up with plans. It's Amaranth who knows how to heal you and Ampharos and Light that tell us where to look. And it's Light who would know how to comfort you right now. But all I can do is just fight."

Espurr tilted her head as she looked at the Fire-type. "Is this…about what Amaranth said earlier? Is this about you not being strong enough to help me?"

Fennix nodded and she felt water forming below her eyes, but she tried her best to hold back. "I bet Mew would have been able to save you, no problem. I bet Mew would have already cured you, so you wouldn't have to worry. But I can't do anything."

"I don't think being 'just a fennekin' is the worst thing in the world. It's what you were when I met you. Sorry, I don't really have much to say about that, since I've only ever really known you as Fennix."

"Yeah, but I just…I dunno." Fennix looked to the sky wistfully. "I just feel like it's not enough, you know? Now that I know I was Mew, now that I know I have this whole past life, I want to live up to it. I want to prove that Mew is still alive in me, even if he's really gone. But…as a fennekin I really can't do that."

Fennix looked back down at Espurr. "But still…even if all I'm good for is fighting, I'll at least try and do that as best as I can. That way, Light and Amaranth will have more time to think of a way to cure you. So instead of worrying about the fact that you can't do much, just think about getting better, alright?"

"I…suppose."

Espurr faced forward, looking down the mountain. As Fennix watched her, she could tell that the Psychic-type had a lot of thoughts going around through her head. The fennekin could never figure out how telepathy worked, so she didn't know what Espurr was thinking of, but she hoped they were good thoughts. After a few moments of silence, though, Espurr revealed at least one.

"Honestly…I know what that's like, though, not living up to something you want to be."

Fennix paused a moment to take in what her young friend was saying. "W-what do you mean?"

Espurr kept her gaze away from Fennix. "...I don't really remember that whole thing about me begging to stay in my house, but there is something I do remember. Because my parents were either dead or gone, I didn't really know which, I wanted to be as self-reliant as possible. I wanted to live on my own. But all the adults, they coddled me or pitied me. And I didn't want that. So I tried excelling in school, tried learning how to live on my own. But no matter what I did, no matter how much I tried to be an adult, the adults still treated me like I was a kid. No matter what I did, it was never enough."

Espurr sighed, and Fennix could hear a weariness in her voice that she never heard before. But more importantly, there was a mutual understanding between the two of them. Before, Fennix only thought the fact that they were both Psychics connected the two. But now, Fennix realized that there was more to Espurr hidden under her wide-eyed mask.

"So…I should apologize for something. I was…complacent with your bullying and the constant teasing about your desire to go to the Expedition Society, but in all honestly, I knew why. We both really wanted to prove ourselves to the world at large, but I ignored you when you needed it."

Espurr looked to the ground. "And yet, despite all that, you still let me join you on this Expedition. Despite knowing full well I couldn't help you guys. Despite how useless I am."

Fennix quickly walked to the side a bit so she could press herself against Espurr. The Psychic-type's eyes widened at the gesture, but she didn't move away. Instead, Espurr herself pressed a bit closer, to take advantage of the warmth that Fennix brought.

"It's because I know how you feel," Fennix revealed. "Yeah, I know I'm the reincarnation of Mew, but I didn't know this back then. And back before I knew that…all I knew was that Pops adopted me. Just like you, I knew nothing about my parents."

"But you had Carracosta," Espurr insinuated, finally facing Fennix again.

Fennix shook her head. "Doesn't mean I didn't wonder some things. Sure, I had Pops there for me. But what about my real parents? What about the Pokémon whoes egg I came from? Why did they just leave me? Why did they abandon me? Some nights, especially when I messed something up or did something stupid, I asked myself that question. Then I wondered…since delphox are Psychic, I wondered if they knew I was going to be a massive troublemaker and that's why they abandoned me. That they didn't want a useless troublemaker like me."

At this point, Fennix was no longer able to hold back, and the water began pouring from her eyes. This time, it was Espurr's turn to pause as she looked up at the fennekin with realism welled into her face. At this point in time, the connection reached both of the Pokémon and became mutual.

"T-that's why…" Fennix stammered, trying her best to hold back her tears again and smile, though she couldn't stop the cracks in her voice. "That's why I understand why you need to do this. Y-you want to find your parents so badly to ask them. To know why they left you. So that's why I'm here to help you, Espurr. We'll find your parents, I swear! And I'll do whatever I can to help you find them!"

Espurr's continued to stare at Fennix with opened mouth amazement for a few more minutes, letting everything the fennekin say bury itself in her heart. She felt a fuzzy lightheaded feeling as she thought about how similar they were, how they both are going through the same things. Both of them have unanswered questions about their parents that, every time Espurr thought about it, she got no answer. Eventually, the feeling caused her face to be flush, at which point she closed her mouth again. It took a few more moments, but eventually, Espurr found her voice again.

"You know Fennix, I think I was wrong about you. Before now, I always thought Light was more mature then you. And while I still think that…I'll admit, I've never met someone who understands me like you. And…you're really not so bad yourself. If I…somehow survive this…I hope we can become good friends."

"I hope so too," Fennix said, facing Espurr with a wide smile on her face despite the wet fur below her eyes.

Eventually, though, she opened her eyes and saw red beneath Espurr's fur. The Psychic-type also had a paw to her head and it looked like she was having trouble balancing, even while sitting. Upon seeing that, Fennix panicked. She immediately got up on her four paws, causing Espurr to fall down a bit, and ran forward a bit in the direction Light and Amaranth left in.

"Light!" Fennix called at the top of her lungs. "Something's wrong with Espurr!"

* * *

Farther down the mountain, Light and Amaranth were walking around, keeping their eyes peeled for either Wilds or Blood Moon members, anyone Pokémon who could possibly do them harm. Light himself was still feeling rather sore from their run through the forest and his subsequent recovery, but he ignored those feelings to keep his eyes peeled. Besides, that wasn't even the major thing wrong that Light was feeling.

Instead, Light was feeling the awkward silence between himself and the shaymin next to him.

Light quickly realized that this was the first moment he had where it was only himself and Amaranth. Fennix wasn't by his side, and Espurr was nowhere around either. It was only him and her and there was nothing either of them could talk about. So they just walked around, silently, in the dead of night. And it was the most awkward experience of his life.

"So…uhhh…" Light mumbled as he looked down the mountain, trying to start some sort of conversation. "Uhh…I'm…sorry for how Fennix has been this Expedition."

"The first time you talk this entire patrol, and you use it to apologize for your friend?" Light heard Amaranth scoff, making things more awkward between the two of them.

Light rubbed the back of his head with his paw. "S-sorry. I…really don't know what to talk about."

"Light, I'm going to be honest," Amaranth dismissed. "I really couldn't care less how Fennix feels about me. If she hates me, she hates me. It's no consequence to me."

Light looked back at Amaranth, specifically at her eyes. "You said the same thing about the other shaymin hating you, and about not being able to fly. But…I can see it in your eyes. You really are affected by stuff like that. You actually do feel bad about Fennix not liking you."

Amaranth silently looked away from him. "Believe whatever you want." Amaranth's voice still remained emotionless. "It makes no difference to me."

"It's just…you've kinda pushed a few buttons that Fennix doesn't like," Light tried to continue. "So she's a little angry with you. Like when you told her not to worry about Espurr or when you told her that she's not Mew. Fennix is really loyal to her friends and she wants to live up to Mew's legacy, so telling her those things kinda made her mad."

"Loyal to everyone she can be, including her past life, huh?" Amaranth asked.

Light nodded and smiled. "Exactly. It's one of the things I really like about her. She's loyal to all her friends and willing to go to the ends of the earth for them. When she wants to do something, nothing can stop her. Her passion is amazing to see and it makes me feel so energized just being around her. But…because of that, she can be a little abrasive to anyone who threatens that. Like when you told her not to worry about Espurr despite the fact that she had every reason to want to worry about Espurr."

"Is that loyalty and passion why she brought Espurr along?"

"Yeah, it is." Light looked back up the mountain, where his two friends were. "Well that…and because she understands what Espurr is going through. She understands the pain of having missing parents and wondering what happened to them or where they are. And why they abandoned her. Before she learned she was Mew, that was something on her mind every once in a while. Because Fennix understands that, she wanted to bring Espurr. Because if it were the other way around, Fennix would want to come too."

"Even though we really shouldn't be bringing someone who's terminally ill," Amaranth scoffed.

"I…kinda agree, but I understand what the two are going through, so I can't exactly argue." He took a quick look around, mostly to gather his thoughts before he said what he wanted to say next. "And…even if you don't want to admit it, I think you understand them too."

"What are you talking about?" Amaranth growled.

Light paused for another moment, this time keeping his eyes on Amaranth. "…Don't you remember? Back during our first examination. When the subject came up, you mentioned Fennix's exact feelings of not knowing her real parents. It was the first time you broke your casual distain for everything and actually cared. So you somehow know what they're going through too, don't you?"

Amaranth looked away and down the mountain. However, Light could tell by what little of her expression he saw that she wasn't focusing on finding Wilds or Bandits. Her face seemed to be lost in deep thought and her eyes were more focused on the ground then the mountainside.

"…There was a kid I knew once, a long time ago, back when I was actually sane," Amaranth eventually said, her eyes still on the ground. "He was adopted, just like your two friends. And I heard him ask those questions a couple of times in his life. So yes, I do understand how those two are feeling."

Amaranth eventually turned back to Light, though, her standard glare back on her face. "But just because I understand them doesn't mean I'm willing to forget what I know. And having someone with Espurr's condition in dungeons is a terrible idea."

Light looked to the floor. "I…know."

"Fennix doesn't exactly think through the consequences of her actions, does she?" Amaranth asked.

"She's…better then she was when I first met her," Light told her. "Back then, she would run off on her own while in dungeons without any thought. It made exploring with her difficult at first. But yeah, there are times where she does something without really thinking about it." Light chuckled. "But considering she sometimes says that I spend too much time thinking, I figure we balance each other out. When she does something like that, it's usually needed. Like in the forest. I wouldn't have thought of using fire to distract them, because that seems too dangerous. But Fennix thought about it and, even though I don't really like the idea of burning the place, it let us escape."

"I'll admit, that was surprisingly pragmatic of one of you."

"Plus, she does have her good sides," Light continued. "When we started spending time with each other, I learned a lot more about her. Like her loyalty and passion, for example. And, when we're traveling to a dungeon together, just the two of us, she likes to sing. And she has the most amazing voice. I sometimes forget we're even walking together and just get lost in her songs. And when she's singing she has such a peaceful smile on her face that I can't help but feel everything will be okay. She's also got a really amazing laugh."

"Okay, I did not expect this conversation to go this way." Light looked up due to the sudden emotion in Amaranth's voice and saw that she was actually looking at him with interest.

"'This way?'" Light tilted his head as he wracked his brains, thinking about what the shaymin could possibly be saying.

Amaranth rolled her eyes, her interest quickly dropping as soon as it came. "Never mind."

The shaymin looked back down the mountain while talking. "Anyways, I don't hate your friend, if that's what you're worried about. There are worse Pokémon in this world more deserving of my hatred. I can't say I like her, but then again there's not a lot of Pokémon I can say that I do like. Does she sometimes get on my nerves? Yes, especially with her insistence on living up to the legacy of a Pokémon she knows next to nothing about nor knows how impossible that is. But she annoys me nowhere near as bad as other Pokémon can. And if she hates me, that's fine by me."

"Sorry I just…wish the two of you would get along." Light rubbed the back of his head. "She was really hopeful that she would be friends with you when you first got here. And, for a while, she tried to justify some of your more…abrasive traits."

Amaranth continued to look away. "…My job here isn't to make any friends, nor do I care to. My job is to make sure you guys are healthy."

Light sighed, knowing full well that he was getting nowhere fast with the shaymin. Still, not one to give up, Light pulled out one last question in hopes that it would at least help, if even a little. "Can you at least tell me why? You don't need to go into details, just tell me quickly. If you tell me…then I won't press any farther."

Amaranth stopped walking for a few seconds, Light stopping too to look at her. Her face seemed to have the usual lost in thought expression, though Light was hopeful that her pausing for a few seconds meant that she was thinking of at least some sort of answer. Any answer would be worth waiting in the extreme cold for her.

"…Light, how much do you know about the difference between a Mythical Pokémon and a regular one?" Amaranth eventually answered.

"Uhh…Mythical Pokémon are more powerful?" Light guessed.

"True, but not exactly what I mean." Amaranth looked back at him. "Mythical Pokémon have longevity. We technically have no age limit. Unlike Pokémon, who can only make it up to around one hundred years—depending on their species—Mythical Pokémon can live for hundreds if not thousands of years. I am already likely ten times your age. And, one day, you will be old and dying while I'm still the same as normal. So that's why. Any friends I make here will become a thorn in my side when they die."

"Oh…" Light's ears drooped as the shaymin's words sunk in. "I…never thought about that."

Amaranth looked away once again. "You wouldn't have any reason to. You're young and have been with regular Pokémon. The fact that Mythical Pokémon are like that is not something you would really know. But that's why. I'm not here to make friends I'll eventually outlive and forget about."

With how cold and bitter Amaranth's voice sounded, Light realized something. "That's…happened to you before, didn't it?"

"…I believe you said you wouldn't press into my past," Amaranth snarled, her eyes glaring at Light. "We should keep patrolling."

Light paused for a moment at how abrasive that statement was. "Sorry, you're right. Let's keep going."

However, before either of them could move any further along the mountain, a noise came from the top. "Light, something's wrong with Espurr!" he heard Fennix's voice echo across the mountains.

Light's heart stopped, his mind squeezed, and immediately quit his patrol to run up the mountain, all the thoughts of what he was doing before canceled to focus on his worry. He didn't pay any attention or care whether Amaranth heard that and was following behind him. He didn't pay attention or care if there were any Wilds or Bandits around. He didn't even pay attention to his sore muscles that kept him going slow during the patrol. All he cared about was seeing what the problem was as fast as possible.

Quickly, Light bounded up to the top of the mountain. When he reached their camp, his eyes immediately darted around to see who or what was happening. Fennix was standing right on the edge of the mountain, a few feet to the left of where Light himself was standing. And Espurr was still lying there in the center, looking confused at all the happenings.

"Fennix?" Light asked as he looked over at her. His adrenaline was quieting down a little and he could finally hear that Amaranth was indeed following behind him.

"Espurr…her face was red, and she looked really dizzy!" Fennix explained in a fervent pace, so fast Light almost had trouble keeping up with her words.

Both of the kids quickly walked forward towards Espurr and, once they got close enough, Light saw that her face was indeed red and she looked like she could fall over at any moment. Once Light got close enough, he lifted his paw up, hoping that Espurr got his unspoken question. However, Espurr just gave him a confused look, and Light remembered that she didn't have telepathy.

"Do you mind if I place my paw on your forehead to check if you have a fever?" Light outright asked.

"Oh…no, go ahead."

So Light quickly placed his left paw on Espurr's forehead. From there, he felt that Espurr's fur was caked with dirt a little, which probably wasn't the best thing in the world. Beyond that, he didn't think he felt any heat on her skin, though it was cold out and he didn't feel any cold either. As Light removed his paw from her forehead, he immediately reached inside his bag, figuring it would be better to be safe than sorry.

"Amaranth, is it possible for her to still get sick?" Light asked as he fiddled around with his back, his eyes still focused on Espurr.

Amaranth's voice came from somewhere behind him, to his left side. "Yes, it's very much possible." The shaymin reached his side. "The Psychic Block is a problem with her mind. She can still get any other sickness. A cold included."

"And that'd be bad, I imagine."

"People's mental states tend to deteriorate when they're sick," Amaranth informed, her eyes glowing as she looked at the Psychic-type's mind. "Depression is very common with colds and flues due to how horrible one feels during it. And her mental state and ability to cope with the pain in her head will determine how long she lasts. So, I assume you can imagine what a cold would do for her."

"Great, that's bad." Light eventually felt the right item in his bag and lifted it out immediately. He eventually presented the pink berry to Espurr. "Hey, eat this."

"A Pecha Berry?" Espurr tilted her head in confusion. "But I'm not Poisoned."

However, Amaranth only nodded when she saw the berry. "Ah, a Pecha Berry helps the immune system. Not a bad idea."

"Oh…okay." Espurr took the berry and began eating it. "Thanks."

Amaranth took a step forward and looked the eating Psychic-type in the eye. "Let me clarify something, while we're at it. How exactly do you feel, Espurr?"

"Really…lightheaded," Espurr answered.

"Lightheaded, huh? Out of curiosity, what were you discussing before you felt lightheaded?"

"Why?" Fennix asked.

"Just curious. I've got something on my mind."

"We were…sorta talking about…how similar we were." Espurr squirmed a little as she spoke. "And I learned…she wondered the same things I'm wondering…about her parents back when we were younger."

Amaranth got out a clipboard from her bag and began writing this down. "Hmm…interesting. What thoughts came to mind at that point?"

"I uhh…wanted to get closer to her," Espurr stammered. "Because…she understands me. She understands the frustration it feels not knowing anything about them."

"So…your parents came up in the conversation…" Amaranth mused.

Fennix frowned and directed her eyes at the clipboard. "Why do you want to know all this? This is kinda persona stuff!""

Amaranth put down her clipboard and looked at Fennix, her eyes still neutral. "Lightheadedness and dizziness are both symptoms of the mind. Anything and everything you guys were talking about could be a vital clue as to the cause of Espurr's Psychic Block. That's why I'm asking these questions."

"So…it's not a cold?" Espurr asked.

"It might not be a cold as we think, but it's better safe than sorry," Amaranth replied. "It's too late for us to get moving and this mountain is going to get colder and colder." She sighed. "Alright, we're going to have to start a fire, whether we want to or not."

"But what about the bandits?" Light asked.

Amaranth turned around and began walking down the mountain. "Let me worry about the bandits. I'll keep an eye out for them during the night."

"The entire night?" Light asked, reaching out his left paw after her.

Amaranth continued his walk, though, despite his concerns. "I've had more all-nighters. Jail isn't exactly the best place for a peaceful night's sleep. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

"Fine, I guess," Light said, rubbing the back of his head. "If you're sure."

Amaranth stopped for a second to nod. "Start the fire and get some sleep. You all need it. Tomorrow, we'll make our way back to Paradise Town. There, we'll discuss what we can do next."

* * *

It was far past midnight, when Amaranth finally felt like she truly knew all the kids were asleep. She had been doing exactly what she said she would do until then, lying down halfway across the mountain keeping her eye on every possible Pokémon that would approach from the Moonlit Forest. She also occasionally glanced back up the mountain to see if any of the kids decided to see what she was up to, but none came. So it had been all in all a quiet night, but that didn't bother the shaymin.

She had been thinking through things all night. Her mind was whirring like a gear, going into overtime with many thoughts and possibilities, to the point that, despite the lack of activity, she wasn't particularly bored, and time passed by reasonably quickly. She was formulating a hypothesis and, finally, she was ready to do some research. So the shaymin quickly grabbed her Expedition Gadget from her bag.

"Hey Chief. Listen, I need you to do something before morning announcements," Amaranth calmly spoke into her gadget. "There's…something I need to know about Team Mystik. I know you can't get that information, but there's someone I know who probably can. You know who I'm talking about. Send someone who isn't busy to him, like maybe Archen or Bunelby or something, and have them help. Tell him that Amaranth needs any information on Exploration Team Mystik as they can find. As many details as possible would be nice."

Amaranth waited for a few seconds, listening to the response. "Why?" she repeated. "Simple. I've been mulling over some things and I've got an idea. Not one I really like, but an idea nevertheless. I've been curious for a while as to what Espurr's parents exactly were doing, having a kid and then leaving her, and I think I might be getting close to that answer."

* * *

 **Author's notes: So here we are, a nice small heart to heart between Espurr and Fennix, and Light and Amaranth. In the process, Fennix and Espurr have come to a mutual understanding with each other, while Light learned why Amaranth doesn't care to make any friends. Amaranth can live forever and is already older then pretty much everybody in this story. Yeah, if you've read my earlier story _Rainfall_ you would have saw this coming, as that story also touches on the longevity of a shaymin. **

**We also see that Amaranth seems to have found out something about Espurr Psychic Block. Where is she going with this? You'll just have to speculate for now and find out later.**

 **Beta read by theGOAT**


	11. Rocky Encounters

The morning sun eventually filled Light's eyes, waking him from his dreamless sleep. For a few seconds, the pikachu just laid there, the lethargic feeling of waking up preventing him from thinking too quickly. But as soon as the cold started seeping in and the fresh morning air filled his lungs, Light realized that he wasn't in his bed in the Expedition Society. Light's eyes shot open upon realization to see the bright blue sky above him, all but confirming what he already thought.

 _Yeah, now I remember_ , Light thought. _We're on a mountain in the Rusty Mountain Range._

Light took a glance to his right and saw that Fennix was lying right by his side, some of her light-yellow fur poking into his. And Espurr was right next to her, about at the same proximity as Fennix was to Light. The pikachu was pretty sure that they were spaced much farther apart when they all first went to sleep, but at this point he was glad for two reasons. First, this meant that the Blood Moon Bandits didn't take any of them while they were asleep. Second, Fennix was a nice warm spot on his left side that banished the cold. And Light was grateful for that.

Eventually, Espurr woke up. Light noticed when she lifted her head up to examine the area. When her eyes reached his, Light gave her a comforting smile, happy to see Espurr was still alive and kicking.

"Morning, Light," Espurr groggily said.

Light nodded, his comforting smile still on his face. "Morning, Espurr. How are you feeling today?"

"I…don't think the cold progressed." Espurr went from lying down to sitting as she spoke. Light did the same. "I…might not have gotten one at all. So…guess we just have to worry about my head."

"Yeah, that's a thing." Light got on his two paws and walked over to get his bag and grab a berry from it. "We'll need to find Amaranth and head to Paradise Town. Hopefully there we'll be able to figure out how to find your parents."

"Do you think…we'll actually be able to?" Light glanced over and saw that Espurr was staring at the ground as she spoke. "We've already…failed once."

Light shrugged. "Wish I could say that we will. But I can say this: if we need to find your parents, then we'll find your parents. You've got Fennix, me, and the entire Expedition Society behind you. We _will_ find your parents."

"Fennix…said the same thing to me yesterday. I don't know…how you do it. How you two stay so determined…no matter what."

"It's just who Fennix is. When she's determined, there's almost nothing that can stop her from accomplishing what she wants. And it's contagious. When you get to know her, you almost can't help but what to do the same thing. And you're our friend. Of course we're going to want to help you. We'd be devastated if something happens to you…" Light trailed off for a few seconds, his eyes going wide as he remembered his nightmare. However, he quickly shook his head and smiled again. "So as I said before. Because we have to help you, we're going to. And that's all there is to it."

"Alright…thanks. That…helps a lot."

Light placed the berry in front of Fennix's face before standing up straight. "Well, I'm off to find Amaranth. Just rest here for now while I get her. I'll be back in a second."

So Light walked down the mountain, knowing that Fennix would wake herself up and eat the berry eventually. Soon, he found the shaymin on the middle of the hill, still keeping her gaze on the Moonlit Forest. At least, he guessed that's what she was doing. He could only see her as a bushy figure lying on what is otherwise a barren red mountainside.

So Light walked down the mountain to see her, already noticing the increase in energy he had from his good night's sleep. He managed to make it to the shaymin rather quickly and walked over to her left side. There, he was able to see that her eyes were indeed still open and still focused on the forest.

"You were seriously awake all night?" Light asked.

Amaranth didn't bother glimpsing back. "Funny, I was sure most Pokémon tell each other 'morning' when they meet in the morning."

"Uhh…morning, Amaranth," Light stammered nervously, rubbing the back of his head as he did so.

"To answer your question, yes. I said I'd be on patrol all night, and I was. Not that it really matters. It was a…particularly boring night. Not the most boring all-nighter I've done, but likely in the top five."

"That's…amazing. I've had some nights where I've been up later than usual, but I've never pulled an all-nighter."

"You're a kid," Amaranth pointed out. "You need your sleep anyways." Amaranth closed her eyes and sighed. "Is everyone else awake?"

"Espurr is," Light answered. "And I put some fruit in front of Fennix, so she should have woken up by now. I think we're all good."

Amaranth stood up and turned around. "Good, we can get moving, then. Espurr needs her medication now."

The two of them quickly made their way to the top of the mountain. As they got there, Light noticed that Fennix was indeed awake, and that her and Espurr were chatting rather happily. Light wasn't exactly sure what they were talking about, and they ended their conversation soon as the pikachu and shaymin got in proximity of the two of them, but Espurr was smiling as they talked, which warmed Light's heart.

Light waved at them as he got close. "Hey everyone. Morning Fennix."

"Morning, Light," Fennix said.

"Glad to see you're all energetic and happy," Amaranth dismissed, "but we're not exactly in the best position."

Fennix and Espurr both sighed, their smiles gone as quickly as they arrived. "Yeah…you're right."

"Just as a little progress update, I said before that Espurr has about a week before the pain becomes too much for her. It's been four days since then. Granted, a week is only a rough estimate, but not a deadline we want to infringe upon. And we're pretty much back where we started."

 _Back where we start, nothing to gain,_ Light thought as he clutched his heart. He felt his body shake and felt the desire to collapse right there as the clock ticked down and time was not on their sides. Light took the paw that was clutching his heart and forced it back to his side, to avoid having anyone see anything. However, even despite that resolve, Light could still feel his breathing become a lot heavier.

"I'm…still feeling fine…" Espurr mentioned quietly, her words keeping Light from completely collapsing.

"Regardless, we need to hurry and reach Paradise Town, so we can discuss our next move. With that in mind, I talked to the Chief this morning about it and he has helped us. He placed Warp Orbs that can send us to the town in my Deposit Box, so once we get one, we can simply warp there, saving us some time."

"Would've been nice to have those earlier," Fennix snarked.

Amaranth shook her head. "I'd like to remind you how rare orbs are. If there's no need, then it's best not to waste one."

Fennix rolled her eyes. "I was joking. I know Orbs are like that. That's why Light's always stingy with them."

Light rubbed the back of his head nervously, feeling the heat on his cheeks. "W-well anyways, we have a direction!" Light cheered in hopes to lift everyone's spirits. "Where's the nearest Deposit Box?"

"That's the bad news," Amaranth said. "It's on the other side of these mountains. Past the Mystery Dungeon, specifically. So we're going to need to deal with some Wilds on the way there."

"In a way, that might be a good thing," Light said. "If they ambush on the Mist Continent's plains, unless there's a fog, we won't really be able to hide from them. If they ambush us here, though, we can use the terrain to our advantage."

"Though it can also limit our vision allowing them to ambush us easier," Amaranth said. "I suppose it doesn't matter, though. The Deposit Box on the other side of this mountain is the fastest and time is not on our side."

"Then let's go," Fennix said.

Light reached into his scarf to pull out his Expedition Gadget. He turned it on and examined a map of the area to get an idea of which direction they exactly needed to go. After gazing around for a bit, he pointed towards the south.

"By the looks of things, we're heading that way," Light said. "We'll have to go through the dungeon, but so long as we head that way, we should find the Deposit Box rather quickly." Light walked forward and waved to the other three Pokemon, a smile on his face." Let's go, team."

* * *

So the four Pokémon began walking through the mountains. For the most part, it was an easier task than walking through the Moonlit Forest. They didn't have to carry torches, or anything like that. There also weren't large trees barring their path and forcing them to squeeze through tight spaces. They had a lot wider space to walk through, and Light could tell that Fennix, at least, was enjoying it a lot more than the previous area.

Because they were climbing a mountain, however, they had to deal with lots of inclines and declines that could shift at any moment. For Light and Fennix, they had enough stamina that it didn't bother them too much. The pair's constant travels in the months they'd been in the Expedition Society helped increase their stamina immeasurably. However, Light noticed that, after a while, Amaranth and Espurr weren't doing so well.

It was Espurr who ran out of stamina first. Light was keeping a constant eye on her and noticed her start to pant. Still, after a quick question Espurr said she was fine, so they continued on. Light was skeptical, but they kept walking. However, soon after, Espurr's knees started shaking.

At that point, Light immediately stopped their walk and immediately rushed up to her, giving her a concerned eye. "Espurr, I thought you said you were fine."

"S-sorry." Espurr shook her head. "I didn't…want us to stop…just for me."

"We're out here for you," Light reminded her. "So if you run yourself ragged, then we're out here for no reason."

"But we are low on time," Amaranth pointed out. "We do need to keep going."

Light turned his attention to the shaymin when he heard her voice. "You're a doctor. Is there anything we can do to help her?"

"Oran berries will help soothe the pain slightly, but it's only a temporary solution for an ongoing problem. You're going to feel really sore later and might have muscular pain in the future, but at the same time death is probably the worse experience."

Light immediately reached into his bag and sifted around for the round blue berry. As he did so, he noticed a slight problem. "Worst part is, we don't have an unlimited supply of Oran Berries. Sooner or later, we'll run out. We can restock at the Deposit Box but…"

"I…don't want to be a burden," Espurr mumbled.

"We're here specially for you, so you're not a burden." The pikachu pulled out an Oran Berry and gave it to Espurr to eat. "We're just not in the most ideal situation right now. Once we get back though, things will go better."

"Yeah, we just have to stay positive!" Fennix cheered. "So eat up, and let's get moving!"

However, that wasn't the end of their trials in the mountains. While Espurr was able to keep up, Amaranth herself fell behind a little. She, unlike Espurr, refused help, stating that it didn't frankly matter and that she could take care of herself. And she was able to prevent herself from wobbling like Espurr did, so that was all Light could really do on the matter.

That, and they had enemies to contend with. The first enemy they faced was a pawniard, who introduced themselves by slashing Light in the stomach at blinding speeds before the pikachu even noticed it was there. Light felt the stinging pain immediately and grabbed the place where he was slashed with his right paw, his heartrate increasing tremendously. Instinctively, Light wreathed his tail and knocked the opponent back a little. With the Dark/Steel-type stunned, Fennix quickly blasted the Pawniard with a Flamethrower to knock it out before it could do any more damage.

"That…was way too close," Light said, his heart thumping. He quickly checked his injury and saw that the cut wasn't too deep, something he was immediately thankful for.

"Where did that thing come from?" Fennix asked.

"I…don't know," Espurr stammered. "It…was a Dark-type so I couldn't…" but then Espurr realized something. "I wouldn't have been able to anyways."

"I imagine it came from somewhere above us." Light glanced over and saw that Amaranth had her eyes on the walls of rocks that surrounded them on both sides. "So, we have the chance to be ambushed from above."

"Didn't you have the ability to notice Pokémon also?" Fennix asked the shaymin.

"I can somewhat sense Pokémon, but it's nowhere near perfect," Amaranth explained. "I didn't exactly sense those outlaws before either, I just guessed they were there based on intuition. My senses have dulled considerably from my time in jail. So sorry I'm not the best guide in the universe."

"I could be…" Espurr whispered to herself.

"I guess we'll just have to be careful." Light brushed the dust of himself. "Let's keep going."

Of course, that wasn't the only enemy that the team had to deal with. Cranidos, Purugly, Herdier, the four Pokémon had to contend with all of them, a few of which also ambushed them from above. At that point, even Light and Fennix, who had done the climbing well enough, were starting to become fatigued as well.

"Better…or worse than the Sheer Mountain Range?" Light asked Fennix in pants after about a half-an-hour of climbing.

"Didn't we spend…the entire time on top of the mountain pretty much?" Fennix asked. "I'd rather…go through the Sheer Mountain Range, no questions."

Light laughed but stopped quickly because it hurt to laugh. "Well…you were all excited to be leaving for Lively Town. So I think you might…be a little biased."

"And you…actually prefer…here?" Fennix asked.

"…Point…taken."

"I don't know how you two can joke around at a time like this," Amaranth groaned. "We're all way too tired and running out of supplies."

Fennix took a deep breath and glanced at everyone with determination in her eyes and her snout lifted high. "At least we should be almost done. There can't be too much left, right?"

Light studied the terrain. Most of the mountain seemed to be behind them while it seemed like they didn't have much left. "I'm not sure how much longer we have to go, but I do think we're close," Light concluded. "Thank goodness. I want to get the Warp Orbs and get to Paradise Town as soon as possible."

"One final push, you guys!" Fennix cheered. "Let's get moving!"

"I think that's far enough for you four!"

As soon as that voice spoke, a sudden gale of sand blasted through. Light immediately covered his eyes with his two paws and closed them to avoid getting sand in his eyes. When the sand dissipated, Light removed his paws and opened his eyes to see what was in front of him. Standing there, in the area where there used to be nothing, stood for familiar Pokémon. A vibrava, litleo, nidorino, and noctowl.

"Blood Moon Bandits!" Light yelled.

"Did you really think we'd let you go after what you did to us?" the vibrava asked menacingly. "Escaping and then alerting the authorities to our base?"

"Wait…when did we do that?" Fennix asked.

"Accidently," Amaranth whispered so that the bandits couldn't hear them. "I didn't turn off my gadget when the outlaws tried ambushing us, so Ampharos heard our entire conversation. He told me later that night that he alerted the authorities while we were fighting."

"We won't take missteps like that lying down," Vibrava continued. "And we still need our slaves. We'll just have to work you extra hard for all you've put us through."

"Oh, and before you think you can just put us all to sleep or do something stupid like that…" The nidorino lifted a pure white orb above his head and all four Pokémon gained a blue glow around them. Light immediately recognized that as him using a Health Orb, preventing them from inflicting the outlaws with status conditions. "That cost us quite a lot, I'll have you know. But the boss says to use whatever we have to capture you. You should feel glad, since the boss doesn't do this for just anybody."

"It's clearly the highest of honors," Amaranth growled sarcastically. "But I'm afraid we'll have to pass. We've got a date back home and I'd rather not be late. Try finding someone else to bug. Maybe then you'll gain relevance again."

"And who asked you, lady?" Litleo asked, glaring at the shaymin.

"Nobody asked your boss to target us either, but here we are," Amaranth dryly pointed out. "You should know this as bandits, but a lot of Pokémon surprisingly do quite a lot without being asked to. Besides, did you really expect us to just come quietly? Sorry, but I've got quite a lot of better things to do then be sold off by a bunch of wimps like you."

"Wimps?!" all four yelled.

"Only one of you is fully evolved," Amaranth pointed out. "Granted, none of us are either, but we're not trying to be these big scary outlaws. And considering the Blood Moon Bandits disappeared around 15 years ago or so, I'm guessing you're newer recruits trying your best to pretend you're tough. Bet your 'boss' doesn't even know what he's doing."

Light glanced away from the conversation to focus on Fennix and Espurr, commanding the two in a low calculating voice. "They've got a Health Orb up, meaning we can't really do any status conditions to them. Espurr, switch out those Slumber Wands for some Blowback Wands."

Espurr handed Light the Slumber Wand and Light gave her some Blowback Wands. "G-got it."

"I'll take on the nidorino, right?" Fennix asked.

Light nodded. "And I'll double down on both the litleo and noctowl. I don't like it, but we don't have much choice."

"I'll…I'll help you, Light," Espurr promised. "I'll hit them with the Blowback Wand to give you some time to focus."

"Good idea, Espurr. If you can do that, that'll be great."

Amaranth eventually turned her gaze back at the three kids. "You guys got some sort of strategy?" she whispered.

"Take on the vibrava, I'll take on the noctowl and litleo, Fennix will take on the nidorino, and Espurr will knock them around a little with a Blowback Wand," Light quickly explained the plan.

"Good, because I think they're about ready to fight," Amaranth growled. "Let's give a surprise strike first before they attack."

"Alright, let's attack all together, then," Light turning his focus back on the outlaws. The four of them seemed to be getting ready to attack as well, judging by how the litleo was ready to pounce at any moment and all four of them had their eyes locked onto Light's side.

Light gave a soft nod to his team before charging his left paw with electricity, his eyes centering in on the noctowl. The pikachu quickly rushed forth, sparks trailing behind him, getting ready to slam his Thunder Punch attack straight into the noctowl's chest. Unfortunately, the noctowl was just a bit quicker, and managed to take to the skies before Light could connect. With it in the air, though, Light decided to focus on the litleo since he was right next to the Fire/Normal-type, and said Pokémon was focusing on firing Embers in a different direction, likely at Amaranth. Light's paws glowed white as he smashed against the litleo's left side in a two-strike Brick Break attack. The litleo turned his attention towards Light and retaliated by bashing his head into Light's stomach. Light felt the wind rush out of him with a woosh and had to step back to catch his breath a little. The litleo wasn't about to let him have that respite, though, and his fangs glowed with a fiery red before rushing after Light, planning on biting him with a powerful Fire Fang. However before any burning teeth latched onto Light's outstretched right arm, a bright flash hit the litleo's side and sent it flying away.

"T-thanks Espurr," Light spoke under his breath. With the brief respite, Light got on his two paws again and focused on the state of the battle. He saw that Amaranth indeed had the ire of the vibrava as sand and wind blew between the two, and that Fennix was firing psychic blasts at the nidorino while the Poison-type tried to stab the fennekin with his horn. Meanwhile, Light's eyes saw the notcowl right above him, the Normal/Flying-type choosing the pikachu as his next target.

The noctowl launched two piercing gusts of wind from his wings. Light wreathed his tail in silver and used the Iron Tail to deflect the Air Slash attack with two horizontal swings. However, the noctowl wasn't done yet, and quickly flew into the sky before coming down with a blazing aura surrounding them. Light's heart skipped a beat as he recognized one of the most powerful Flying-type moves, Brave Bird, and he thought as fast as he possibly could. Light pounded his silver tail into the ground to bring up a slab of earth to block the attack. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough, as the noctowl effortlessly broke through and hit Light in the chin with the Brave Bird. The pikachu cried out and flew back while also being pelted in various places on his chest by some of the rocks from his own attempt at defense. He landed back on the hard ground on his back, feeling pain pulse across his body and his limbs not following his commands to get up. The noctowl decided to take advantage of this momentary defenselessness and rushed down with another Brave Bird.

"H-HELP!" Light yelled as he closed his eyes and put both his paws first, waiting for the impact to hit.

"L-Light!" groaned a pained voice.

Light opened his eyes to see that Fennix was standing over him, producing a green barrier between him and the noctowl, forcing that Pokémon to bounce off and fly away. However, a quick inspection told him that something was wrong with her. Her eyes were squinted, and her face scrunched up as if there was something paining her. Light then noticed a bruise on her right shoulder and remember what she was fighting, and two and two slowly came together.

"Fennix, you're poisoned!" Seeing Fennix in pain like this cause Light to immediately stand up and reach into his bag for a Pecha Berry.

"Y-yeah, that Nidorino really…got me," Fennix groaned.

"S-sorry." Espurr approached the duo, a demeanor of guilt on her face. "I was close to hitting it a couple of times, but the two of you kept moving so erratically it was hard to lead my shots. And I wasn't really focusing on you, Light, so I didn't notice the noctowl flying at you. I didn't even think noctowl could learn Brave Bird!"

"It's…okay." Light handed the berry to Fennix. "We can still…win this."

Light quickly examined the battlefield to get an idea of their situation. Amaranth was still facing the vibrava, however from a quick glance of the battle Light could tell that the vibrava was slowly losing ground. The vibrava attacked with various Ground or Dragon moves, but Amaranth was apparently a speedy little Mythical Pokémon, as she hoped away from the attacks with ease. Once the attack was cleared, she launched her own attacks, alternating between Air Slash an Energy Ball. And the vibrava was glaring at her and panting, leading Light to be confident that at least Amaranth's battle would be successful.

The nidorino also seemed to be a little tired, which suggested that Fennix did get at least a few hits in. However, the noctowl and litleo were just fine. Light knew at that point that this battle wasn't going in their favor at all, as he was weak, Fennix was poisoned, and Espurr couldn't fight. What was worse was he noticed the litleo giving Fennix a glare. And, upon following the glare to Fennix, he saw that she wasn't eating the berry.

"Oh no…don't tell me." Light felt his heart stop in his chest as the horror of the situation reached him.

"That litleo…must have Unnerve," Espurr confirmed. "That means…we can't eat berries."

"Amaranth!" Light called out.

Upon hearing Light's call, Amaranth grabbed the vibrava with Psychic before throwing it as far away as possible. With him out of the way, she focused on returning back to the rest of the group. Luckily, she was able to reach them right away before the rest of the outlaws were able to do anything.

"What happened?" Amaranth asked.

"Fennix is poisoned, Light is hurt badly, and the litleo has Unnerve," Espurr explained quickly.

"Great," Amaranth groaned. "I know Aromatherapy, but that's just about it. I don't know any healing moves."

"Then just heal Fennix." An Air Slash flew towards the group from noctowl, which Light deflected with an Iron Tail. "I-I'll be fine."

"I'm not dumb enough to believe that." However, she quickly closed her eyes and a sweet smell wafted through the area. As Fennix smelled it, her breathing became a bit less pained and she stopped quivering. "But we don't really have much choice," Amaranth finished after using Aromatherapy.

"We should focus on the litleo now," Light concluded as he watched Amaranth dodge an Ember from it. "If we can…beat him we'll be able to eat berries again. Then we can heal."

"It won't be nearly that easy," Amaranth pointed out. Light glimpsed over at the outlaws and saw that they were coming together again. "They're probably smart enough to stop us from doing that."

"I…know, but we have to do something. T-try shooting some long-ranged attacks at the litleo. That way, we can know for sure."

Fennix had no problems listening to Light and shot her multi-colored Psybeam at the litleo. Amaranth, however, just rolled her eyes, and otherwise didn't do anything. And her reluctance to attack proved true, as both the litleo and vibrava launched attacks to deflect the Psybeam before it could do anything.

"Warned you. Now stay focused! Here they come!"

All four outlaws rushed into the four Pokémon at once. The noctowl flew over at the four Pokémon, using another Brave Bird. The nidorino prepared to strike using his horn with a Poison Jab attack. The litleo once again used Fire Fang. And finally, the vibrava wreathed his claws in a purple aura, planning on using Dragon Claw.

"…Espurr, use the Blowback wand on the noctowl!" Light quickly commanded, his voice unable to hide his desperation. "Amaranth, Fennix, combine your Psychic-type attacks to knock out the nidorino."

Light wreathed his tail in silver, his eyes focused on the vibrava, and he rushed forward. Once the pikachu got close, he immediately swung his tail at the vibrava. The vibrava responded with his own claws, and the two attacks clashed of each other. With both of the Pokémon stuck like that, Light placed his left paw on the ground, pouring energy into it. Two spots of grass grew from the ground to wrap themselves around the vibrava's front claws, pulling it down into the ground. With vibrava incapacitated, Light gave a short hop before slamming the Ground/Dragon-type's face into the hard ground. Light also used that attack to give him momentum to launch in the air.

While in the air, Light glanced at the battle below him. The nidorino was successfully knocked out and lying on the cold floor, showing him that Amaranth and Fennix's combined attacks did manage to knock it out. However, whatever joy Light saw at seeing that was immediately crushed when he saw his friends. Amaranth and the litleo were having a stare off, which was already a terrible matchup. But Espurr was knocked flat on her back, and the noctowl that she was supposed to hit was over Fennix, his talons surrounding her.

"Fennix!" Light yelled.

He landed on the ground, charging electricity into his left paw, but the noctowl held out a wing, telling him to stop. "Don't try anything funny, pikachu. If you so much as twitch, I'll crush this fennekin's skull under my talons."

"L-Light," Fennix groaned. "T-the litleo hit Espurr…and the noctowl got me. I…I'm stuck. And I don't have any strength left…to get out."

"N-no," Light moaned.

"Just hit him with a long-ranged electric attack," Amaranth growled as softly as she could so only Light could hear her. "Lighting is too fast for him to react, and Fennix will be fine. She'll be a lot better than anything he'd do to her."

Light felt his cheeks spark at the thought, but he knew he couldn't do anything. "I…I can't. I…can't aim."

"…You have got to be kidding me," Amaranth groaned.

"You three have given us too much trouble," the noctowl continued. "But it was a fun challenge, I'll give it that. You know, if you joined us, you could probably grow up in the ranks. Besides, I don't know what group you're part of, but we could always use some spies in a major organization. And think of it this way: you're going to be slaves to us anyways. Might as well make the best of it."

Light clenched his jaw, studying Espurr. The Psychic-type soon got up and examined the situation, however Light could see a burn across her right paw. As such, he knew that, even if the noctowl wasn't over Fennix right now, she couldn't do much. So Espurr quickly stared at Light with desperation in her eyes.

 _C-crap,_ Light thought. _He's looking at us, and not Fennix, so if she could do something from her position, anything, then we could turn the tide. But Fennix is out of energy, and we can't give her a berry or anything. Even if we could, litleo's ability will keep her from eating it. N-no, what do we do?_

"L-Light, you have to keep fighting," Fennix pleaded. "D-don't worry about me. Y-you gotta get Espurr healed. Don't give in to him!"

"I wouldn't recommend that," the noctowl said. "Such a young little girl. Such a bright life ahead of her. It would be a shame if that ended so early. So make your choice soon, or I'll make it for you."

Light felt his heart stop. His breaths became quick painful spirts of air. Despite his eyes widening, the world became dark around him as his eyes focused only on Fennix and the noctowl. His limbs all trembled. And there was only one thing his brain was focusing on.

" _You are cursed human. Whether you wish to admit it or not, you are cursed. Everyone you get close to will die. You are destined to live in despair. This is your fate."_

"N-no…" Light groaned. "I…what do I…?"

 _This isn't like you, Light,_ the rational, not terrified part of Light said told him. _You're a planner. A strategist. Come up with a plan to save her. Do you really want that voice to be proven right? You can still do this!_

"I…know but…what do I do?" Light asked himself out loud. "I…need something else. I can't do anything…with the moves I know."

 _Then learn a new move,_ his brain told him. _Think, Light. You know exactly what you can do. All you need to do is think. So do so._

"T-think?" Light asked. _Something? A move that can be used? But what move could I possibly do. What we need right now is healin…_

" _So…I could learn moves a pikachu wouldn't normally know based on what ancestors I have?" Light remembered himself asking what felt like a long time ago._

 _Wasn't one of the moves she thought I could learn…_ Light thought to himself.

 _Finally,_ his rational side said. _Now use it!_

Light took a deep breath before closing his eyes and bringing his paws together. "Please, hear my cry," Light prayed softly. "Grant me this desire, the power to give my allies the strength they need to fight."

 _Yes, feel that power_ , Light's rational side told him as Light felt a warm energy somewhere in his chest _. It should be welling up in your heart right now. An energy, one that'll give you the chance to keep fighting. Take hold of it, let it flow through you, and unleash it._

Light took another deep breath before doing exactly what his rational side told him to do. He took hold of that energy and let it burst throughout his body. And when Light opened his eyes back up again, he noticed that he had a bright glow around him, almost like a star. Everyone stared at him with shock on their faces, likely because whatever Light was glowing with wasn't electricity. But the pikachu didn't care, as the light was shining specifically on his friends.

"What in the world are you doing?" the noctowl growled.

Light took a deep breath. "Nothing specific," he lied, his voice trying to sound as defeated as possible. "I mean, look at me. I'm not doing anything involving electricity. I'm not dumb enough to try and signal for help as there's nobody there. Honestly, there's really nothing I can do."

The noctowl seemed to be content with that. "Good. Now make your choice."

Light smiled at Fennix and saw that she had some life return back to her eyes and smiled. "Okay. I'll just say one thing. Fennix, use your Heat Wave!"

Realization hit Fennix's face, and then a triumphant smile. She quickly closed her eyes and Light could see the fur over her body shift and quiver a little. It was not more than second later when the noctowl realized that something was wrong, but by that point it was too late. Fennix managed to burst out her attack, an explosion of hot air bursting from her which sent the noctowl flying. It also knocked the vibrava back a little as well. Only the litleo was mostly unaffected by the Heat Wave, but Amaranth quickly remedied that by blasting him away with Psychic while he wasn't looking.

"That's Wish, isn't it?" Amaranth asked.

"Yeah, it is." The combination of turning the tide, the energy being poured through him, and seeing Fennix run back to his side gave Light the most euphoric felling in the world, and he smiled from ear to ear. "Espurr, get close to me! Fennix, use protect!"

"On it!" Fennix exclaimed.

Espurr got close while Fennix brought out a protective barrier that kept attacks from all sides from attacks. While they were all there, Light let the power of his Wish heal everyone's wounds. He could feel energy flow through him, and he hoped the energy was flowing through everyone else. While he was doing that, Amaranth used Aromatherapy to heal the burn that Espurr got. The two support moves quickly helped turn the tables that the litleo's ability prevented them from doing before.

"Alright, that's cool!" Fennix cheered with a much more energetic voice. "You learned Wish!"

"Good." Amaranth turned a glare at the outlaws. "They're weakened, and we're healed again. Let's focus on taking them all out, now."

"Crap, this wasn't part of the plan." The vibrava took a step back, sweat pouring off his face. "What do we do?"

"Should we cut it and run?" the litleo asked.

"No," the noctowl growled, still glaring at the four Pokémon. "Boss won't be happy if we come back empty-handed."

"Oh how cute," Amaranth barked. "You're willing to follow your leader even if you're fighting a losing battle. That type of loyalty is what will cause death to come to you eventually. I know that all too well."

The noctowl roared at the thought. "A cute little Mythical Pokémon like you? What would you know."

"I've lived probably ten of your lifetimes. I know a lot more than you do."

"Let's just end this pointless conversation." The noctowl spread his wings before lifting off into the air to slam down with another Brave Bird attack.

"That noctowl has been using Brave Bird quite a lot lately," Amaranth noticed. "Wonder if he knows the consequences of using that attack too much?"

Light, Fennix, and Espurr all realized exactly what she was going by. "The noctowl must have taken lots of damage." Light focused on anything they can use as an advantage, noticing a decently sized rock that was lodged from a battle close to his left. "So just a small push and…"

"Good. Now make it happen."

"Fennix, use Flamethrower!" Light commanded. "Amaranth, try an Air Slash!"

And without saying anything else, Amaranth launched her Air Slash attack at the opponent. Fennix hesitated for a second, but eventually shot her Flamethrower as well at the noctowl. Light, meanwhile wreathed his tail in silver waited. The noctowl flew straight through Amaranth and Fennix's attacks, ignoring them in his pursuit, but Light noticed him slow down consideribly. Light took this chance and hopped high into the air. The pikachu managed to slam his Iron Tail into the noctowl's back, sending the Pokémon straight to the ground. And when Light landed himself, he noticed that the Normal/Flying-type was knocked out cold.

"Two down." Light turned his attention to the vibrava and litleo, who were both staring shocked at the noctowl's defeat.

"Well now, I believe you're at a disadvantage," Amaranth told the other two outlaws. "Two of you against the four of us. And the two of you must be pretty damaged while the four of us are perfectly fine. You going to keep following your boss's stupid plan?"

The vibrava and litleo glanced at each other. "Screw this," they both said before they both ran in the opposite direction.

Amaranth closed her eyes, lifted her nose, and scoffed at the two Pokémon. "Hmph, there goes those two. Cowered in the end, just like I thought. Light, Fennix, if you could use your badges on the other two. Send them both to the place they deserve."

"Yeah, on it." Light walked up to the noctowl as Amaranth suggested, but his steps were slow and sluggish, and he could feel the pain that he once ignored pulsing through his body again. He also took a quick glance and saw Fennix panting, her nose. Still, Fennix went over to the nidorino while Light went to the noctowl just fine and used their badges to transport them to the police.

"Great…" Amaranth groaned, likely from seeing what Light saw. "I didn't want to do this, but we might need to rest at Paradise Town."

"B-but aren't we almost out of time?" Espurr asked.

Amaranth sighed. "Yeah, I know. I don't like it either. But with the Blood Moon Bandits on our tails, and after the fight drained us so much, I don't think we have much of a choice. We need to decide our next move anyways."

"We still have time." Light tried to sound as confident as possible, though he was worried his voice and fatigue would betray him. "We can still find your parents."

"O…okay." Light felt a stab of pain in his heart, since Espurr's voice cracked and was soft. And right now, he didn't have the energy to do anything to help. Light winced as he finally reached the noctowl and used his badge to transport it out.

Amaranth stepped forward on the path they needed to go to reach the deposit box. "Let's get off this mountain, then."

* * *

 **AN: One comment I was given when discussing writing with some friends was how to keep battles tense while OP items exist. This battle against the Blood Moon Bandits was my way of doing that. They effectively made items useless for our main characters and thus, Team Rebirth had to think of something else. Though Unnerve isn't the easiest ability to explain, I hope that it was a rather interesting fight to read due to the use of items. Also, one bit of foreshadowing has come to be as Light learned Wish.**

 **Beta read by theGOAT**


	12. Worn

Light couldn't remember much of their walk through the rest of the Rusty Mountain Range. He knew the terrain was rather easy to navigate compared to some of the areas they previously hiked. He knew that they managed to avoid battles on the way to the Deposit Box, something the pikachu was thankful for. However, the fatigue and emotions from the last bought with the Blood Moon Bandits left Light drained, physically and emotionally. As such, he didn't really pay much attention until they were finally warped out of that cursed mountain and landed on the cobblestone paths in Paradise Town. That moment burned an image into Light's head that sent more adrenaline shooting through his veins.

Espurr collapsed the instant they landed.

As soon as Light saw this, he rushed to her and lifted her motionless body up. "Espurr?!" Light desperately cried her name in dismay, shaking her limp body, with no response. "Espurr!"

"No," Fennix whimpered seeing her fallen friend cradled in Light's arms. "Not now. T-this can't be happening."

Amaranth stopped her look into Espurr's mind and facing the two children. "Calm down, you two," Amaranth commanded. "She's just fatigued. She's still alive and her head is still in one piece. I can't say this is 'good' in any way, but she's not dead at least. We should get her someplace as soon as possible."

Light's eyes frantically scanned the square, looking for where Swanna's place was. He soon noticed himself inside the central cobblestone square of the old Post Town, and once he got his barings, knew where to look. His eyes finally met with a two-storey building unlike the other ones in the bustling square he recognized from his last visit to the Mist Continent. The building he saw had a waterfall next to it and yet a gentle stream running underneath it that connected to other parts of the town. He pointed to the familiar building only a few yards away from their current location. "Swanna's Place works as an inn! Let's go there!"

"Good. We need a place to talk and where I can check your wounds…"

So Light and Fennix both lifted up Espurr urgently so they could carry her to Swanna's place. Though as he lifted her up, Light noticed that she felt a lot heavier. He grunted and groaned as he carried her weight, an exertion he didn't need before.

Light was also worried about Fennix. Aside from her worry about Espurr's health when she fainted, the fennekin uncharacteristically hadn't spoken many words since they had landed. And despite her efforts to hide it, a melancholic expression donned her visage through their journey thus so far. Beyond that, though, Light wasn't sure what she was thinking. He knew Fennix well enough to have a few guesses, she was the center of a terrible event today, but he didn't know for sure.

Still, the two of the staggered on through Paradise Town despite the lack of communication. Light noticed that most of the Pokémon in the general area stared at them as they heaved Espurr along, but he tried to ignore it. A glance at Fennix told him that she either didn't notice or didn't care, either. Light had to admit that, if he saw a scene like this in Lively Town, he would probably rubberneck too, so he couldn't blame the townspeople.

Eventually, the two Pokémon made it into Swanna's place. Amaranth quickly walked up to Swanna and explained the situation, getting them a room. As such, it was only a (somewhat difficult) walk up the steps and down the hallway before they made it into a room. It wasn't a large room, it only had one bed and a table, but Light didn't care. He lead Fennix over to the bed where they both placed Espurr down. Fennix herself lied down on the floor next to Espurr, clearly spent. Light decided to take a seat next to the table, facing the two girls. With everyone settled down, Amaranth began her inspection, starting with Espurr.

"Hmm…yeah, it's definitely fatigue. I don't like what this will do for her psyche, but she'll be physically fine. The Warp Orb also probably didn't help much. I'll just take care of her burn and she should be good."

Light watched as Amaranth took a small piece of cloth, and poured some juice from a light-blue berry with bright green leaves on top of it, and wrapped it around Espurr's right paw. He immediately identified it as a Rawst Berry.

"Should we be worried about her?" Light broke the silence as he watched the Grass-type move from Espurr to Fennix. Despite his words, he felt his body shiver and shake, his nerves refusing to calm regardless of what he said.

"You have no reason not to be worried about her." Amaranth nodded in his direction before turning her attention to Fennix. "…I told you before, her mental state will determine how long she'll last with the pressure inside her head. Something like this could easily limit her time left."

Light groaned and sunk down lower on the ground. "That's…not good."

"No… but we'll talk about that later." Amaranth focused on Fennix next. "…Alright Fennix, you're fine. You've got a lot of bruises, especially around your head, but nothing I can really treat. Just eat an Oran Berry and let it heal naturally."

"…Alright," Fennix mouthed.

"Do you think we can still wake her up?" Light asked.

"With some rest, she should wake on her own," Amaranth explained, turning her attention back at Light. "Which is good, because we've got a lot to talk about."

"Alright," Light said.

Amaranth continued to work on everyone while they all waited for Espurr to wake up. It took a fair bit, though. Amaranth had inspected and patched up everyone including herself. While the two friends sat somberly in the small room thinking about their current situation and what had brought them here.

"Uhhnnn…w-where are we?"

Light and Fennix's eyes perked up at the weak voice coming from the bed. Espurr's wide-eyes slowly opened and she pulled herself up in the bed with her lower half underneath the white blanket.

"Swanna's place in Paradise Town," Light told her. "We're all fine, just here resting."

"Oh…" Espurr looked around with an unreadable expression, assessing the alien location she was now in. "O…okay."

"I suppose now that you're awake, it's a good time to discuss what we're to do next," Amaranth said. "Since the Moonlit Forest was a bust."

Silence came from the group at the reminder of their past failed misadventure. Eventually, it was Espurr who broke the silence. "Yeah… what are we going to do?"

Amaranth hesitated for a few seconds, and Light noticed that her eyes couldn't directly face anyone in the room. "…Honestly, there was something I thought about for a while. It would confirm a lot of things for us. I… didn't want to do it, unless as a last resort, but I think we might need it. Especially since we're running out of time."

"What is it?" Light asked.

"The Legendary Pokémon Mewtwo is supposed to live in the Mist Continent," Amaranth answered. "Mewtwo is one of the most powerful Psychic-types in the world. If what I've heard is right, his power is more suited for combat then healing, but he should be able to figure out where Espurr's parents are regardless. Follow her psychic wavelength to wherever they are. Assuming they're still alive, but he can also confirm whether they are or not."

"Mew…two," Fennix mumbled.

"Why didn't we do this first?" Light glared, his voice more intense then norm. Light realized his rising emotions and took a deep breath to try and calm down a bit.

Amaranth scowled at him. "Because I didn't know where Mewtwo was until I asked the Chief. For all I knew, he could have been anywhere in the world, and anywhere in the world isn't here. It was just a passing thought I had when talking about Mew previously."

"Is Mewtwo…related to Mew?" Fennix asked.

Amaranth shrugged. "There's a human legend that states that Mewtwo was 'cloned' from Mew, whatever that means. They also look similar to each other. Beyond that, though, we don't know what they're connection is."

"If he can help us…then I'm fine meeting him," Espurr said.

Amaranth closed her eyes and sighed. "You might be. I already asked Ampharos and he's given me a good idea of where we can find Mewtwo. An island off the western coast of the Mist Continent called the Isle of Isolation. It's too far out of warp range and the Lapras Liner won't go there, so we'll have to find someone to take us there."

Light took a deep breath. "So, we have a direction then."

"'Direction' is a strong word for it." Amaranth looked out the window at the angle of the light. "Plus, there's one other problem."

"One…other problem?" Light asked.

The shaymin looked back at Light and Fennix. "Be honest, all of you. None of you are ready for any more traveling today. Physically, and mentally. You all need rest and as your doctor, I'm going to demand rest. Maybe we can get a head start in the late afternoon, but we're not going anywhere for awhile."

"But we're running out of time!" Fennix stammered. Light felt those same word on the tip of his tongue too.

"…We are," Amaranth answered emotionlessly. "We're on day four with only three days left, possibly less. And I've come to a decision. The day after tomorrow, come what may, regardless of what happens, I think we should make our way back to Serene Village. It will take some time to get back, so I want to give it that time regardless of what happens. That, and that works well for the Pokémon I'll call if we can't find Espurr's parents. It's about half-way for the both of us."

Espurr's face looked towards the ground.

Light resisted the urge to punch something at the thought. His body felt sore, his mind felt worn, but the thought of them not making any progress caused him to feel a pit in his stomach. So Light shook his head and looked at Amaranth.

"We can still move! We'll be fine! Just give us a few minutes and…"

"No!" Amaranth growled while glaring at him. "We're resting now, and that's final. You might be the leader, but I'm the doctor and my word in this case carries much more weight than yours. Don't let your stubborn pride get in the way of logic. We can't move on right now, whether you like it or not. Would you rather all four of us croak in the middle of a mystery dungeon when we're too exhausted!?"

Amaranth closed her eyes and calmed down a bit. "Just tell whoever you find to meet us on the Western edge of the Mist Continent. Then they can spend the day walking over there while we rest, and we can warp there to meet them tomorrow. It'll still waste more time then if we all warped there now, but we need the rest whether you think we do or not. Just take a look around."

As little as Light wanted to admit it, she was right. He didn't even need to take a look around to know that Fennix and Espurr were both feeling down on themselves. And he himself felt like he was at the edge of his limits, if his outbursts were any indication. So Light took one last deep breath and tried to save face.

"I know the leaders of Paradise Town and can ask them for help," Light calmly stated, his eyes still closed. "I'll also have them send whoever they can over to the edge of the sea."

"That will help a lot." Amaranth turned to face Fennix. "You should go out as well. A walk will do you some good."

"Okay," Fennix mouthed, her face still blank as if the back and forth between Light and Amaranth hadn't happened.

"Good. Beyond that, we all need rest. So try not to do anything too strenuous for the rest of the day."

* * *

Light and Fennix had been working on finding someone to take them to the Isle Isolation. Luckily for them, that was rather easy. An official team from H.A.P.P.I recommended a Water-type there, a quagsire that seemed to be decent, if a little dense, and he was more then willing to take them to that island, and free of charge too once they explained the dire situation. Light knew that if Amaranth was there, she would be a little suspicious, and he did sort of wish that Espurr could use her telepathy to read his mind and tell them what he was thinking, but he was still willing to trust him. Light trusted the team who told him about the Ground/Water-type, and that was enough for him.

However, that wasn't the only reason why Light wished Espurr had her telepathy. And this desire was much closer to his heart. The entire time they were searching for somebody, one Pokémon never uttered a sound. Light ended up doing all the talking the entire time. And that Pokémon, was his dear partner, Fennix.

Just like before Fennix barely spoke. She meandered behind him, but she didn't say a thing. Instead, she just followed with her head facing to the ground, her ears drooping, and her tail stiff. All the energy that normally brimmed from Fennix and made her so full of life was completely gone. And it was worrying Light like no end. The expression she wore was a familiar one, not one Fennix herself had worn before, but he himself recalled donning a long time ago. It was the expression of the loss of a friend.

Being in that place before, Light knew in his heart of hearts he had to say something her. So eventually, once they were finally done asking the quagsire for his help, Light took her to the square and finally decided to ask the question.

"Fennix, are you okay?"

There was a brief pause between the two. "If…I say I'm fine, can we drop this?" She muttered.

Light shook his head. "It's pretty obvious that you're not fine. You're not that good at hiding your emotions."

Fennix sighed. "I…guess not. L-light…be honest. Have I been helpful? At all?"

Light knelt in front of her and placed his left paw on her shoulder, giving her a comforting smile as he did so. "Of course you've been helpful. Why would you even ask that?"

Fennix just shook her head and looked to the ground. "I…I've been feeling so useless lately. I told this to Espurr before, but I don't feel like I've really been doing much of anything."

Light held onto her shoulder harder, hoping that his feelings get through from his touch. "You're the strongest one here, outside of Amaranth. Without you all the battles we've been in would have been a lot tougher."

The fennekin finally looked back up at him, and Light saw the tears in her eyes. "But all this fighting isn't helping Espurr. And I wasn't strong enough to stop the noctowl in the last fight. I…wish I was stronger but…"

Fennix shook her head. "Be honest. Mew would have solved the problem already. Mew would have been able to save Espurr. Mew wouldn't have lost to that stupid noctowl! B-but I'm stuck as a stupid fennekin."

"Fennix!" Light reprehended.

Fennix looked back at the ground. "S-sorry," she sobbed.

Light looked to the floor as well. "I…kinda understand what you're feeling. I can't exactly heal Espurr either, even after learning Wish. And when it comes down to it, I have to rely on either Amaranth or Ampharos to come up with where we're going next, since I haven't figured out much either. And I'm usually our strategist, the guy who comes up with the plans to get us out of the situation. But my last plan failed spectacularly and got you in a horrible situation."

Light looked up at the sun, seeing that it was already late in the afternoon, and as the sun fell down, so too did his heart. "And look at where we are now. Resting instead of moving on. That's another day lost, all thanks to me. Another day we don't have."

Light let his cheeks spark. "If I could only actually fire my electricity right. If I could actually hit something with Thunderbolt. I could have zapped that noctowl out of the sky before it hit either of you. But I just…can't get the hang of directing my electricity like a normal pikachu. I…almost feel just as useless as you have."

"So…we're both stuck, then," Fennix said.

"Yeah," Light nodded somberly. "We both wish we could just help some more. We both want Espurr to feel better already, instead of going through these motions. Especially since…Espurr is running out of time." Light felt a chill pass down his spine as he said those words. "B-but, we can't be like this. Espurr needs us to be strong for her. We have to make sure she knows that everything will be fine. That we'll make it. Even if that means being fine only supporting Amaranth."

Light lifted his head skyward and stared into the blue sky.

"I remember a time like this when I thought we were out of options. When I thought we lost and there was nothing we could do to make a difference after losing everything… but it was actually you who told me not to give up."

Fennix was hit with the realization of what Light was talking about.

"We didn't do it because we were the strongest or even smartest. We didn't do it because you and I are some ancient prophecy. And we didn't do it because I'm human and you're Mew. We did it because we were all the world had left at the time... and right now we are all Espurr has right now. So no matter how weak or useless you may feel, you can't give up. Because I feel the same way you do. Doubt has been creeping in my mind for days now and that's why you're not useless, because I need you to tell me the same thing, Fennix. I need you to tell me not to give up. When it comes from you, as hopeless as everything may seem, I just know everything will turn out right..."

Light brought his black eyes down from the clear blue expanse back to his friend who was hanging on every word he said.

"Y-you're right." The fennekin closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes back up again, she had a determined look on her face. "I…I'm going to prove myself! E-even if I'm not Mew, there must be something I can do! I just have to find out what that is! And, when I see Espurr, I'll give her the biggest smile I can! So she knows that everything will be alright!"

Light smiled and nodded at the fennekin, her words slightly lifting the burden in his own heart. "Yeah. This…hasn't been the best mission in the world. But our friend needs us, and we have to help her. No matter what."

"And we're gonna make it!" Fennix cried with determination. "We gotta! I don't know how, but we gotta! Right?"

Light nodded, a smile creeping on his face. He liked this Fennix much better than the gloomy one earlier that day. This was the Fennix who's smile made the world seem brighter and more alive. That waggle of her tail made him feel like they might just maybe be able to heal Espurr. Light wasn't entirely sure about her, but he himself felt much better after seeing her.

"Yeah, we do. We can't let doubt keep us down. Somehow, someway, we'll find a way. We have to believe that."

 _It'll still be a long road,_ Light thought. _But…hopefully we'll make it._ The thought of his nightmare slowly creeped into his brain, but Light pushed it away. _We have to._

* * *

Light and Fennix both had already left the room to go find passage to the Isle of Isolation. Amaranth herself left, though Espurr wasn't entirely sure why the shaymin decided to leave. Still she was gone, and that left Espurr all alone. All alone in Swanna's place with all her doubts and fears.

Despite the sunlight shining through the room, the world around the Psychic-type felt dimmed. In her aching head that was fully to bursting, many thoughts rushed through, none of them uplifting. She kept on a brave face for her two friends, who were both trying so hard for her, but right now it was enough that she could cry. She constantly had to hold back the water that was welling up in her eyes, before it leaked out.

 _Why,_ Espurr asked. _Why can't this pain just end? Why can't it be over? I…I hate it. I hate everything. It…it'd almost be better if…_

"Hey, kid," Amaranth's voice interrupted her thoughts.

Espurr looked up and saw that Amaranth was back and staring straight at her. "W-what?"

"There's something I want to show you. Come with me."

Espurr tilted her head, her eyes searching the shaymin's face. "Something…you wanted to show me?"

Amaranth scoffed. "You'll figure it out when we get there."

Espurr hesitated, glancing to the floor as she did so. _I'd…almost rather not, but I suppose I have nothing to lose,_ Espurr thought in her aching head. _Besides, Amaranth is my doctor, for better or worse. So I should trust her._

Espurr got up, and as soon as Amaranth saw the Psychic-type do that, she turned around and walked out of the room. Espurr quickly followed close behind her. Amaranth took the two of them out of Swanna's Place and up the cliff that was to the left of the building. Espurr was surprised, as she didn't notice anything important up that hill, but she still followed along with the Grass-type. There was at least some nice scenery along the way, as there were pools and waterfalls of fresh clear water all over the place. And the fresh crisp air was nice to breath in. It didn't help her feel any better, but it was nice.

Eventually, though, the two reached the top of the hill. Espurr wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but she noticed that a few Pokémon were leaving from the hill with contented smiles on their faces. Once they left, though, she was all alone up there with Amaranth.

Amaranth pointed her right stubby paw over the cliff. "…Go ahead. Look over the hill."

"Uhh…alright?"

Amaranth walked to the side, allowing Espurr to walk over to the edge of the cliff and look over. And what she saw was the most amazing sight. In front of her, stretching across the horizon filled with green lands, was the strangest rainbow she had ever seen. There was one larger rainbow that went from one side of the land to the other and looping around it was three other circular rainbows. They all also seemed to circle around the peaks of three mountains that lined the skyline. Espurr was amazed at what she saw in front of her, and she lost herself in it. She didn't entirely know how much time passed as she looked over at the scenery over the cliff.

"Like the view?" Amaranth asked.

"Y-yeah." Though Espurr normally liked to face the Pokémon she was talking to at the very least, she couldn't tear her eyes away from the view. "It looks beautiful."

"The locals call this the Rainbows of Hope. It's what made Post Town so popular back before Paradise came to be. It's said that no matter how bad you're feeling, how much pain you're in, or how much life has got you down, you'll always feel better after looking at them."

"T-thanks, Amaranth. I'm glad you showed me this."

So Espurr sat there for a few more minutes, taking it all in. It was a momentary uplifting distraction for her, and for the first time in what felt like forever, she smiled. However, that smile quickly dropped and her face adapted a more serious look. With a sigh, she turned over to look at Amaranth.

"Miss…do you mind if I…ask you something?"

Amaranth rolled her eyes. "You technically just did. I didn't have a problem with that. So go ahead. Ask what you actually want."

"S-sorry." Espurr looked to the floor, lost in thought for a few seconds. Once she collected herself, she looked back at the shaymin. "Amaranth…you said a friend of yours might be able to heal me, right? C-can we just…quit looking for my parents? Go back home and just let your friend operate on me?"

"You really want to give up on looking for your parents?" If Amaranth was shocked by this, Espurr didn't notice it in either the tone of her voice or the look on her face. She still had the same blank expression and bored speech that was her default.

Espurr looked away. "I…don't want to. I do want to know where my parents are, what happened with them, why they left me all alone." At saying that, Espurr's mind pulsed and she flinched for a second. However, Espurr pressed on regardless. "But what hope do we have of finding them anyways? We don't even know if they're here or not. We don't even know if they're alive or not. This whole adventure could end in failure. So…why should we keep going?"

"A logical argument, if I believed that was the only reason." Amaranth gave a hollow chuckle. "But I'm not dumb enough to ignore context. The Blood Moon Bandits have you scared, don't they?"

Espurr took a step back and instinctively grabbed her right arm, the same one that was previously burnt by the bandits. She soon realized her mistake, but by then it was already too late. Amaranth saw her reaction and knew the truth.

"F-fine, I'll admit it!" Espurr cried. "L-Light…F-Fennix. They're both trying so hard to help me. And F-Fennix almost died and L-light…the horror on his face when he saw that. And I can't do anything to help but watch them ambush us time and again! And…for what? For some stupid mission that might fail anyways?!" Espurr soon realized her body was shaking, so she quickly stopped talking and took a few deep breaths to calm down. "That's why…I just want to home. So…can your friend really help me?"

"Technically, the answer is yes and no. Psychica Mortem is…difficult in that it can have a wide variety of causes. The reason why we're looking for your parents is that it'll be easier for them to sift through your mind to find the cause of your case so that it can be fixed. In most cases, finding the cause is much more difficult then actually fixing it."

"But you've been slowly figuring out the cause, haven't you?" Espurr perceptively asked.

Amaranth actually smiled. "So, you've figured that one out, have you? I'll admit, I'm impressed. I didn't expect you to be that perceptive." The shaymin's smile soon faded. "Yes, I have been trying to figure out where you got your Psychic Block from. And I think I'm close, too."

Espurr pressed on, walking a bit closer to the shaymin as she did so. "So you're friend can heal me without too many problems, can she?"

"No."

It took a few seconds for those words to register, but once they did Espurr felt her heart sink in her chest. "W-what do you mean, 'no'?"

Amaranth shook her head. "I'm not one hundred percent sure on this yet, but if I'm right on my current guess of what's causing your Psychic Block, it'll be impossible for my friend to help you. In some cases, Psychic Block can only be cured by the very same Pokémon who caused it."

Espurr immediately realized the implications of those words. "A-are you saying that my parents…?" No matter how hard she tried, though, Espurr couldn't finish that sentence.

"I told you before, it's just a theory of mine. One I believe to be true, but I could be very easily wrong. As it stands right now, though, it's unlikely that anyone outside of your parents can help you. So it'll likely be pointless to call in extra help."

Espurr clenched her paws together and closed her eyes, her last avenue of hope dashed by the cold words from the shaymin. Her body once again began shaking, only this time she knew that deep breaths couldn't stop it. There was only one last thing she could do left for her two friends.

"T-then…can you make it painless?"

"'It'?" Amaranth said bluntly. "Pronouns don't work on me. Say exactly what you want for me to do."

Espurr felt her heart sink even farther and a pit of vile in her upset stomach. "Can you…make it so that I d-d-d…die painlessly?"

"You want me to kill you as painlessly as possible?" There was still no emotion on Amaranth's voice, despite the gravity of what they spoke.

"Y-yes. T-that way I won't…be a burden on Light and Fennix anymore."

"So then I assume you'll be the one to tell those two that, right?" Espurr's eyes snapped open at Amaranth's tone, and what she saw was emotion on Amaranth's face. Specifically, anger.

"T-tell them?" Espurr asked.

Amaranth nodded, a deadly look on her face. "I want you to go down this hill right now, find Light and Fennix, and tell them you want to die. Go on, do it."

Espurr looked down the hill back into town and, in her mind's eye, she could see the pikachu and the fennekin. She could hear Light's compassion coming out of his comforting and warm smile, hear Fennix's determined voice along with her confident smile and fiery eyes, and they were all daggers that pierced into her heart. The thought of having to go up to those two, tell them that she wanted to die, and seeing those expressions fall into sadness was the straw that broke the camel's back. Tears finally began pouring from Espurr's eyes.

"I…hate you," Espurr sobbed.

Amaranth scoffed. "Every single member of my species hates me. Adding one little girl to that pile won't cause me to lose anymore sleep at night. Besides, I knew you couldn't do it from the moment you first spoke. After all, for all your bravado, all your hope to help your friends, you're just as afraid to die as you are afraid for them."

"…I just…I hate it! I hate this feeling! This…dread! This…fear! I-I'm trapped! There's nothing I can do, nowhere I can go without feeling more pain! It's…horrible! W-why?! Why did this happen to me?! Why did this have to happen to me?! What did I do to deserve this?!"

Espurr collapsed onto the floor, sobbing. Her head hurt, her body shook, everything felt horrible. She wanted nothing more than to lose all of her senses and let the pain end. However, she felt something she never expected to feel. A paw touched her shoulder and, when she looked up, she saw Amaranth staring down at her, her face soft.

"I'm sorry you have to go through this. Nobody deserves to go through something like this, least of all you."

Espurr was shocked. The sincerity in Amaranth's voice left her completely lost for words. Everything she saw was the opposite of what she came to know from the shaymin. And her world continued to feel like it was upside down.

Amaranth took a step back, allowing Espurr to get up off the ground and into a sitting position. "I'm also sorry for bringing you to this state. But I knew you wouldn't admit it normally, and you needed to admit it. Otherwise, these feelings would keep eating you until there was nothing less."

Espurr was still at a loss for words, so Amaranth filled the void of silence. "You're young. Way too young to be having these kinds of worries on your shoulders. There's absolutely nothing to be ashamed of for fearing your own end. So don't considering it cowardice or anything."

"W-what should I do?" Espurr sniveled.

Amaranth shook her head. "Unfortunately, kid, I can't answer that. I've grown numb to death. I've seen too much of it in my long life. And I can't even fear my own life. Whether I live or die really doesn't matter to me. I can't empathize with what you're feeling. However, I can give a suggestion."

Espurr remained silent and listening, prompting Amaranth to continue. "In case you haven't noticed, the two kids who it's my job to look after have been working themselves to the bone to try and help you. And I'm not saying you owe me anything, because you don't, but you may owe those two something. Say more than the loss of a friend? Light and Fennix have been working so hard to save you, despite how many times I've told them we might not find what we're looking for. They've stayed determined no matter what. Even now, after all that happened, they're still working hard for you. They're hopelessly naïve in many ways, but they don't care whether we're being hunted by the Blood Moon Bandits or not. They're willing to face the danger if it means saving you."

Espurr shivered. "I know. And that's…"

"Exactly why you shouldn't be worried," Amaranth sternly interrupted. "You're not forcing them to do anything. They're here on their own choice, because they want to help you. They want to see you live a long and full life. So they're willing to put their lives on the line to help you. You might not want to be a burden, but they don't care about that at all. They're happy to help, so you should let them."

Espurr looked to the ground. "I…suppose but…"

"Also, you should know something. Behind that determination, is a great fear. Light and Fennix are both as terrified of you dying as you are. They hide it by constantly moving forward, hoping they can help in whatever way they can, but they're scared too."

"I…never thought of it like that," Espurr admitted.

"So here's my suggestion. Sometime before the end, whenever you feel ready to, but make sure it's before the end, I want you to talk to Light and Fennix. The three of you need to really have an open talk with each other, so you can come to a mutual understanding and help each other. You need to admit to them that you're scared, and they need to do the same with you. That way, the three of you can get past this."

Espurr looked up. "I…suppose I can try, but…"

"Don't try, just do it," Amaranth barked. "This is for both your benefit, and the two kids. You need this more than you need anything else. Alright?"

Espurr paused for a moment. "…Okay. I…it won't be easy. I really don't want Light or Fennix to know…just how terrified I am. But…if you say I need this, then I'll try my hardest to tell them sometime soon."

"Good. Trust me, you don't know how much this honesty is needed. For the both of you. There'll be a lot of hard questions, but you need this."

With the conversation finished and a satisfied look on her face, Amaranth turned around. "Alright. Now, I'm off to do my own things. You can feel free to either say here and watch the Rainbows of Hope, or head back to the room. Don't do too much, though. You need to rest."

And with that, Amaranth walked off, leaving Espurr on her own once again. However, when Espurr sat down to look back at Rainbows of Hope, she felt a bit lighter in her chest. Her head still hurt, and her situation was still terrible, but there was a slight bit of hope in her heart. Someone else knew what she was feeling, and that slightly lessened the burden she carried.

* * *

AN: Probably the darkest chapter I've written for many reasons. Our crew is definitely at a low point in this adventure, after everything that happened last chapter. But like all low points, these characters are trying to look past it and find something to hold on to, some sort of hope to help them.

Beta read by TheGoldCrow


	13. Faith and Doubt

Light and Fennix returned back to their room in Swanna's Place when the evening started to fall. As such, Espurr was fast asleep in the room by the time they went back. Amaranth was also nowhere to be seen, meaning that there was no one for the two to mention their progress on getting to the Isle of Isolation. So the two decided to sit and wait in Swanna's Place for the shaymin to return.

However, the hours ticked by and the sunlight turned to moonlight outside of their window, and the shaymin had not t returned. Eventually, Light and Fennix both agreed to get some sleep for the night and tell the shaymin tomorrow. So they both set up the straw beds they used last night and both went to sleep.

After a dreamless night's sleep, the sun shone through the windows of the room. Light woke up pretty much immediately as the sunlight hit his face, something he was usually able to do. Light slowly slipped back into consciousness with his eyes profusely blinking into focus the small room he had retired in , he also saw that Espurr was the only other awake at the moment. Light could not make heads or tails on whether not she had even gone to sleep that night. Normally the state of one's eyes gave that answer, but with Espurr it was always difficult to tell. In any case, he decided to let it be and gave her a curious nod, to which she responded in kind.

"Morning. How are you feeling today?"

"A…little woozy, if I'm being honest," Espurr admitted. She shook her head. "But I'll be fine."

Light flinched at the sound of that and he gave her a serious stare. "Do you think you need Amaranth to check over you? This doesn't sound good."

Espurr shook her head. "She'll probably do that…anyways. Besides, I told you…I'm feeling fine. My head doesn't hurt…more or less then it did yesterday, and I could be woozy…from a number of things."

Light took a deep breath. "If you say so. But please, be careful. If you feel like you're about to pass out or anything like that, warn us, alright?"

Espurr nodded. "I will." Silence came between them for a few seconds where all that could be heard were creaking floorboards that were most likely other patrons stirring in the early hours, and the rustling of Fennix's bed as she turned over in her sleep. Light wanted to break the awkward silence and was about to stand up, before the Psychic-type spoke once again. "Light…I know we don't have time now but…sometime soon, can we talk?"

Light tilted his head. "Talk? About what?"

"There's…something you and Fennix need to know. Something…I really need to tell you. So sometime soon…can we really talk?"

Light smiled and nodded. "Of course, Espurr. I'll be happy to listen to whatever you have to say!"

"T-thanks…"

Light sat up off the ground, stretching a bit. After he stretched, the pikachu decided to take a glance around the room. Fennix was lying down next to the back wall, still asleep despite the light shining through her eyes. Light rolled his eyes at that, feeling apprehensive about waking her up with their limited supplies.

However, as Light examined the room, he noticed something strange. Amaranth was still missing. No matter how hard Light searched, he couldn't see the shaymin anywhere. That meant that both last night and that morning, the Grass-type was gone.

"Hey, Espurr, have you…"

Espurr shook her head, interpreting his question. "You didn't wake up too much earlier than I did. And she wasn't there either."

"That's…odd." Light felt anger pulse in his head, but he calmed himself before he reacted. "What is Amaranth up to?"

Espurr shook her head. "I'm not…entirely sure myself. Yesterday she took me…to see something called the Rainbows of Hope and then left. I haven't seen her…since."

"Hmm…great," Light groaned. "And this is our last day too. If Amaranth doesn't show up, we might have to leave without her."

' _The last day.'_ Espurr's melancholy eyes drifted to an open window looking at the morning clouds in the dawning amber colored sky. Such a brilliant sight would put anyones mind at ease, but Espurr couldn't see the clouds as anything but the worry clouding her mind.

"Hold your ponyta, I'm here!" Amaranth called from outside. The door busted open and the small abrasive shaymin walked in. She made a loud enough noise that even Fennix heard her and woke up.

"Uhh…what?" Fennix moaned as she sat up.

"Amaranth, where were you?" Light demanded.

"Doing a few things," Amaranth vaguely answered, to Light's frustration. "Mostly research. I'm close to something."

"And what is that 'something?'" Light asked as he tried to hold back his anger. "Because we're wasting time here while you were gone."

Amaranth didn't bother catching his eye, instead focusing on Espurr. "I'm close to something important, that's all you need to know. Anyways, it's time for you to take your medicine, Espurr."

Espurr scrunched her face in disgust for a few seconds, but quickly buried that. "O-okay."

Amaranth lifted out Espurr's medication regardless of her demeanor. "It's not exactly like I like giving you it either. It's either that or…you know." Light shook a little from the implications.

Espurr glanced away. "I…understand."

While Amaranth was giving Espurr her medication, she glanced at both Light and Fennix. "So, what did you discover about getting us to the Isle of Isolation?"

"A Pokémon called Quagsire is going to take us there," Light informed her. "He left right after we told him. He also assured us that the Blood Moon Bandits wouldn't be a problem with him around."

"You asked about the Blood Moon Bandits?!" Amaranth barked suddenly, causing Espurr to spit out some of her drink in surprise.

Light took a few seconds back, also surprised at her sudden outburst. "I told you before, I know and trust the leaders of this town. We told them about our situation. That's partially how we got Quagsire to help us. And why we trust him."

Amaranth still glared at him. "You better really trust them, because that would otherwise be the stupidest move I have ever heard in the world! The Blood Moon Bandits have put a hit on us! Knowing their infamy, they have someone in this town spying on us! Asking directly for help about them means that they know where we're going and what we're doing!"

Light rubbed the back of his head with his left paw. "S-sorry. If it helps, nobody is apparently willing to go to the Isle of Isolation. From what we heard while asking around, if you're lucky you'll be blocked by a barrier with no way through. If you're unlucky, you don't come back. That's what we were warned when we asked to go."

Amaranth took a deep breath, likely to calm down. "Makes sense, considering what Pokémon is there. I hear crossing Mewtwo is considered a terrible idea. He's considered one of the most savage Pokémon in the world. The outlaws probably won't follow us there."

"And that's…who we're asking…to help me?" Espurr asked, having finished her drink.

"His power should mean he can detect your parents. Of course, that's only a possibility. Thing is, we don't have time to do anything else. It's Mewtwo or bust, since we don't have time to search the entire world for two Pokémon that may very well be dead."

Light crossed his arms together, feeling a sudden dip in the temperature of the room. "I…don't like this. I wish we had some sort of backup plan."

Amaranth shook her head. "I don't like it either. Anyways, sooner we get this over, the better. Let's meet up with Quagsire and go."

So the team all left from Swanna's place and used the Warp Orb. Once the light from the orb dissipated, Light saw in front of him a beachfront and nothing but water beyond it. He couldn't see any islands either, but the pikachu didn't focus on that. Instead, he turned around to the vast plains and there he saw him. The same quagsire he was told about yesterday, walking up to them.

"You…" he heard Amaranth breath as the quagsire got close.

Light glanced at the shaymin, his head tilted in confusion. "Do you…know him or something?"

Amaranth shook her head. "…I'm not comfortable talking about it right now."

"It's, hmm, alright." Light lifted his head to see that quagsire was close and heard their conversation. "I think I, hmm, know what you're thinking about."

Amaranth glanced away. "Great. I was hoping otherwise."

Light's eyes darted between them both, confused, and Fennix and Espurr both noticed the conversation as well. "How do you two know each other?" Fennix asked.

Amaranth sighed. "I guess there's no avoiding this. Sir Quagsire, right?"

Quagsire smiled. "Ahh, I see my reputation, hmm, precedes me. I suppose that, hmm, tells me who you are as well. There's only one shaymin I can imagine who would, hmm, know me by that name."

"What's going on?" Espurr asked. Light took a glance at her face and saw longing in her eyes, likely because she was wishing she could read their minds to learn more.

"I was an outlaw, remember," Amaranth admitted. "Us outlaws were told to fear one specific Pokémon. It was a long time ago, long before I got caught, but I heard that name a lot. I thought it was a ridiculous name, but so many Pokémon talked about it with fear. The name of Sir Quagsire, the scourge of the underworld."

"…What?" Light, Fennix, and Espurr all asked at the same time, not entirely sure what they just said meant.

"You were from the Water Continent, correct?" Quagsire asked. "Good to know that my, hmm, reputation reached all the way over there."

"And I hate to know that my reputation has reached all the way over here," Amaranth scoffed. "It makes things…more annoying."

"If it means anything, hmm, only I know about this here. My connections told me about a bandit group from, hmm, the Water Continent that had a shaymin member."

Amaranth glanced away, her teeth clenched. "Of course. They just loved to constantly brag about the fact that 'such a rare Mythical Pokémon' was now 'working with them.'"

"Still, what brings a shaymin like you into, hmm, the criminal underground?" Quagsire asked.

Amaranth shook her head. "A long story with a lot of events I don't want to talk about. Let's just say…there was someone I wanted to protect. Unfortunately, I failed at doing that."

"…Interesting. You still want to, hmm, go to the Isle of Isolation, correct?"

Amaranth shook her head. "It's less that I 'want' to and more that we need to."

"Well…you should be careful," Quagsire informed. "Outlaws who go to the Isle of Isolation, hmm, never come back. Or so it's said. Whether you believe it or not, hmm, is up to you."

Light stepped forward. "She's been reformed, and we really don't have much of a choice. Sorry sir, but we need to get to that island right away. We don't have time to talk."

Quagsire nodded. "If you say so. So, shall we, hmm, go then?"

Light nodded and Quagsire stepped forward past the group. Light expected him to go into the water, but he stopped directly in the path of the waves. He just stood there, not even glancing back, which unnerved the pikachu.

"One more thing before you go. There is said to be an impenetrable barrier surrounding the inwards of the island. Those who have, hmm, come back have mentioned that. You might find yourself, hmm, unable to proceed."

"Yeah, I heard about that before," Light told him. "We're still willing to go regardless."

"Do you have a problem with us going there or something?" Amaranth asked, her glare going to the Quagsire despite the fact the Water/Ground-type wasn't even facing them.

"No problem specially. I just, hmm, thought I would warn you. I'm not, hmm, opposed to helping you." Quagsire turned around and faced Espurr. "Little girl, you're sick, aren't you?"

Espurr faced the ground. "In…a way. I'm…the reason we're doing this."

"Then you don't have to, hmm, worry." Quagsire turned back at the sea. "I'll help you, hmm, as best as I can. I'm just, hmm, warning you about what I heard."

* * *

Quagsire took them all one by one across the sea to the Isle of Isolation. Since the island seemed to be safe, and Light didn't notice any of the obvious indicators of a Mystery Dungeon, he decided to explore a little instead of waiting for Quagsire to bring everyone back.

The island was mostly barren. It had rough grass on the ground, wild grass too as some of it was larger than the other. The grass also stood up universally straight, suggesting that not many Pokémon visited the place. And just from the feel of the area, Light felt cut off from the rest of the world. There was stone cold silent amposphere on the island there were no signs of life at all. All that could be heard was the sound of wind blowing and the rustling of the tall grass the four Pokémon waded through.

Light could make out the large barrier that Quagsire mentioned a few yards inland. It was dome shaped and tinted everything behind the forcefield purple, including the sky which made Light feel ominous. It was nothing like a sky-blue pyramid shaped obstacle he encountered in an early adventure. Though a part of Light wondered if it was able to disappear the same way.

"Hey, Light, what are we looking at?" Fennix asked. Light wordlessly showed her the blockade in front of him. "Oh, that. Guess that's what Quagsire warned us about."

Light nodded. "I'm just wondering how we're going to get through there."

"Think you can break it the same way you did at the top of Revelation Mountain?" Fennix asked.

"I…doubt it, but I can give it a try." Light walked up to the energy field in a trance-like state, feeling nostalgic with his last encounter with a barrier like this one. He outstretched his left arm to touch it. Eventually, his paw did touch flatly to the barrier. It had a strange feel to it, as if it had the touch of pure psychic energy, like touching one of Fennix's Psybeams without taking any damage. However, no matter how Light touched it, how much force he put in pushing it, the boundary didn't disappear.

"What are you doing, kid?" he heard Amaranth ask from behind.

Light glanced back and saw that both Amaranth and Espurr had also set foot on the island. Quagsire was also there but hanging back by the shoreline and not joining them next to the obstacle. Light got a foreboding feeling about that and faced forward once again just to get his mind off of it.

"I was hoping that I could get rid of the barrier by touching it," Light explained himself, turning back to examine the barrier."

"I doubt that will work," Amaranth said. "You can feel free to try all you like, but I doubt Mewtwo would create something that can disappear by a simple touch."

"We…know, but I dealt with something similar that could dissipate like that. It worked because I was a human. So I thought this might be something similar."

Amaranth scoffed. "Considering it was Mewtwo who created this barrier, I'd imagine it'll take something just as powerful as him to destroy it. Not something a tiny pikachu could do by pushing it."

Fennix's eyes lit up at those words and she immediately turned to face the forcefield. Light didn't even register that she was doing anything like that until he felt heat to his left side and saw that she was launching a powerful Flamethrower into the shield. The flames all dissipated upon touching it and the barricade was unaffected by Fennix's attack. That didn't stop the fire fox, though, as she next shot a Psybeam at it.

"Fennix, what are you doing?!" Light finally asked.

Amaranth sighed. "You seriously don't let go, do you? Kid, for the last time: Just because you were Mew in a past life, that does not make you as powerful as Mew. You might be slightly more powerful than a normal fennekin, but nothing near on a Mythical Pokémon's power."

"W-what else am I supposed to do?" Fennix asked. She gazed at the sun, and Light could tell that she was charging up for a Solarbeam. "We need to get through, don't we? If so…then I don't care what you have to say! I'll get us through this! For Espurr!"

Light glanced at his left paw and felt electricity naturally circulate through it. He viewed from his fist to the barrier, specifically at the spot Fennix directed her ire at, and thought of joining her as well. Logic told him otherwise, that the barrier wouldn't break even if he joined in. But his inner desire to help Espurr, to not be walled off like this and forced to give up, slowly overwhelmed his feelings.

Fennix shot her Solarbeam at the psychic wall, but the attack still did nothing to the powerful wall in front of them. The Fire-type growled in frustration before blowing another Flamethrower at the shield. None of her attacks left any effect on the purple barrier, it being immovable as before.

"Yes, I get you have something to prove, but save your attacks!" Amaranth yelled. "This is clearly getting you nowhere!"

"No!" Fennix yelled. "I won't stop until we're through."

"… _If you won't listen to her, listen to me."_ Light glanced towards the sky at first when he heard the voice, before realizing it spoke in his head. A glimpse of his friends' expressions told him they were also hearing that voice. It was a deep male voice that, Light imagined if spoke, would shake the very foundations of the world. Light had never had his ears ring from telepathy before, but he felt a similar sensation from the voice that spoke to him. He could sense the contrast from Espurr's gentle speaking back when she could freely telepathically talk with them, and he almost wondered whether the discrepancy between them was due to sheer power or due to Espurr just being more docile.

" _I will allow you passage,"_ the voice said. " _You may enter."_

A small break in the barrier opened up for everyone. Everyone stood outside of the forcefield for a few seconds, completely stunned. However, Light shook his head a couple of seconds later and focused on the task at hand.

"Let's go."

So the four of them walked through the barrier and into the greater island. It wasn't too large of a place, and the quickly walked into some moss-covered ruins. There, standing at the end of the ruins, was a Pokémon that was both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time to Light.

The Pokémon had his back turned to everyone, but Light noticed some similarities. A pinkish body and a long tail. He met Mew once, traveled with him even, Mew was his temporary partner while Fennix was gone. Seeing this Pokémon was very familiar. However, the Pokémon had several deviations too. The tail was a darker pink and much thicker. And the arms were bulkier than Mew's. The Pokémon was also taller, too.

As Light looked over the Pokémon, he felt all the hairs on his back raise up and all of his muscles tense. Though the Pokémon hadn't done anything, Light took stock of Amaranth's words and could almost feel the immeasurable power coming from the Pokémon. He could almost sense that, if they got into a fight, Mewtwo would effortlessly win. He fully believed Amaranth's stories about him and that terrified him. Light's body shook slightly as he silently prayed that this Pokémon in front of him would be merciful as the pressure built.

"…To think, the day would come when the reincarnation of the Pokémon I was cloned from and the human who had befriended him would once again come and see me." Light noticed immediately that Mewtwo's telepathic voice sounded exactly like his speaking voice.

Light and Fennix both took a step back at those words. "Y-you know who we are?!"

Mewtwo turned around to examine the four Pokémon, his gaze directly at Fennix. "Yes, I know exactly who you are. Though your forms have changed, and one of your spirits is different, I can still tell who you two are at a glance."

Fennix's nose pointed at the ground. "My spirit…is the one that's different. Right?"

"You are certainly not the Mew I once knew," Mewtwo confirmed. "Though one could say the Mew I once knew was not the Mew I first knew."

"What?" Fennix asked, the conversation dragging her head back up, her eyes wide with curiosity and interest.

"There'll be time for that later." Mewtwo's eyes glanced over Light before his gaze went to Amaranth and Espurr. "The child with the mind sickness. And a murderer and kidnapper. An interesting group."

"A…kidnapper and murderer?!" Light, Fennix, and Espurr all asked, their eyes all falling on the shaymin. However, the shaymin wasn't fazed at all by what Mewtwo said. She had the same unamused, and almost bored expression that she usually had.

"Attempted murderer, mind you," Amaranth corrected, as if that was any better. "And funny, you of all Pokémon would call me that. If the stories about you are true, you're not any better than I am. At least I kept my crimes small scale. Your crimes were against the entire world. Or am I wrong?"

Mewtwo glared at her. "You seem to have a lot of cheek. Do you know that I could kill you right now with nothing more than a simple thought?"

"Then you would cause a small sick girl to have no hope for recovery, and leave her two young friends depressed," Amaranth calmly stated, still completely unfazed despite the threat on her person. "If you're willing to do that, then you have no right to judge me for what I did. Especially when you did the same thing once."

Mewtwo examined the shaymin for a few seconds. "…That was many lifetimes ago, so long that this world has long forgotten my past crimes."

"And I'll live long enough that the same will happen with me," Amaranth pointed out. "I…regret most of what I did in the past. It was a dark time for me that I'd rather forget. I've realized how much of an idiot I was during that time. And right now, I've got a mission to do. And that's what we're here for."

Mewtwo glanced from Amaranth to the rest of the kids around her. "What about all of you? Do you trust her?"

All of the kids caught each other's eyes, thinking before speaking. Light wasn't entirely sure what everyone else felt, but if he had any guess, they were thinking what he was thinking. They were all shocked at the news that Amaranth was a kidnapper and attempted murderer. Light knew she was an outlaw, that she was previously in jail, but the knowledge of what she actually did was not a pleasant thought. However…

"Amaranth is many things, not all of them positive," Light admitted. "She's abrasive, sometimes acts like she doesn't care, and she and Fennix have had a couple of fights. But…I don't think she's a bad Pokémon. When we talked on the Lapras ride here, I could tell how hard it was for her to be an outlaw. I think she really does regret what happened. And our Chief trusts her, so I'll trust her."

"I trust her too," Espurr announced. "I…wish I could use my telepathy to find out what she's really thinking, but even without it, I trust her too. She's…given me good advice, when she really didn't need to. Actually…she doesn't even need to be here helping me. She's the Expedition Society's doctor…not mine. But she's still…here anyways."

Fennix glanced away from Mewtwo. "I don't like her. She's a big jerk! But…even if I don't like her, that doesn't mean I think she's bad. She is helping out, at least. She's more helpful than I am."

"Is that so?" Mewtwo asked. "So you all trust her that much, and so blindly? Despite knowing her to be a criminal? And what if she betrays that trust? Do you realize there's the possibility she can do that? You have a sick friend here who's very life is at stake. You risk a lot on this fragile bond known as 'trust.'"

"Once we're done here, I'm still going to ask her for her side of the story," Light admitted. "But she hasn't given us a reason to distrust her, yet. She's been helpful this entire trip. I'm not really 'blindly' trusting her."

"Hmm…you haven't changed, Light," Mewtwo mused.

"You…knew us in our past lives, right?" Fennix asked. "Can you tell us…?"

Mewtwo turned around again to face away from the crew, Fennix's question dying as he did so. "Someday, we will meet again. Save your questions for me until then. For now, you have something more important to do, correct?"

Espurr stepped forward to Mewtwo. "I…have Psychic Block, or Psychica Mortem if you know it by that. In…only a few days, I'm going to d-die. C-can you heal me?"

"What?!" Light and Fennix both asked her. Light's mind was reeling, trying to figure out what her motivations for asking that question was. Amaranth already guessed that he couldn't, and they were there for a different reason. So he couldn't understand why she went with that.

Mewtwo still faced away. "…Unfortunately, I cannot. For a few reasons. My power…was not made for healing, but for destruction. But even then, what you need is not brute force. There is something else, something specific. Something only the Pokémon you're looking for have."

Amaranth's eyes widened. "So…I was right," she whispered. "I knew it."

"Right?" Light asked the shaymin. "Right about what?"

Mewtwo faced forward once again. "Your parents are still alive. I can sense them. They're close."

"Close?" Espurr asked.

"On western Mist between the Tempting Path and the Hazy Pass, there is a small forest that almost nobody ever goes through," Mewtwo said. "Those who try inevitably get lose in a maze, one worse than any normal Mystery Dungeon, worse than even its sister the Inflora Forest. Take a wrong turn, and you inevitably end up back at the start. It is known as the Twisted Forest. Nobody, not even the most famous explorers from H.A.P.P.I have discerned the path through the dungeon. But two Explorers from the Grass Continent have and made their home there. Those two are the ones you're looking for."

"The Twisted Forest…" Light grabbed his Expedition Gadget from his scarf and pulled up a map from it. "Hmm…we've got data on the two other dungeons, and I see the forest here, but there's not data on the Twisted Forest in here. Looks like a dungeon that the Expedition Society knows nothing about."

"Considering what we just heard about it, that doesn't surprise me," Amaranth mentioned. "I don't suppose you're willing to tell us the secret to getting past it?"

Mewtwo faced away for one final time. "Unfortunately, I can't help you on that one. You have to figure it out yourself."

"Well, thanks for the help, anyways," Espurr said, though Light noticed that she wasn't nearly as happy as he expected her to be. Instead, she kept the same neutral face she used the entire adventure to try and hide something.

Light faced her with a large smile on his face. While he wasn't sure what was eating Espurr, he hoped to convey how amazing the circumstances were to her, to help her a bit. Finally, they had a clear-cut direction and it was close enough for them to reach it with ease, before the time limit passes. "We're getting close, Espurr. Just a bit longer and we'll find your parents. Then we can finally heal you."

"Y-yeah, sounds good," Espurr stammered, though her voice was still hollow. Light also noticed that Amaranth had a strange demeanor, one he couldn't completely define but seemed somewhat close to sorry. If that was even possible with her. Light couldn't understand what was going on with those two and why they weren't happy about this news.

"You should all leave now," Mewtwo eventually stated. "After all, you're on a time limit and shouldn't dawdle here."

"Right," Light nodded. He turned around to face his friends. "Let's go, everyone! One last push and we can heal Espurr!"

* * *

 **AN: Sorry about the long wait between chapters. As you could probably tell between last and this chapter, I've shifted beta readers and that transition took a bit longer then I would like. But I'm back now and should consistently be uploading these. ...Which naturally means nothing to those of you who are reading this in the future when this story is complete.**

 **Anyways, Mewtwo in the PMD world has always interested me as a character. Normally his portrayed the same as his main series counterpart, but a fan comic called Victory Fire actually gave an interesting take on Mewtwo's character, where he mellowed out and became more of a mentor figure. My Mewtwo here is sort of a combination of his canon personality of being a bit of a loner while also bringing in a bit of his Victory Fire personality as a mentor.**

 **Plus, I find the idea of a dynamic between the Partner, who is Mew reincarnated, and Mewtwo to be an interesting one. And I fully plan on going into that in a future story, as you can probably tell just based on this chapter.**

 **Beta read by TheGoldCrow**


	14. A Dark Fall

With Quagsire's help, the four Pokémon made it back to the mainland of the Mist Continent on the western shore by the middle of the afternoon. From there, all they needed to do walk south towards the forest. As such, once they said their goodbyes to Quagsire, the Pokémon ran their way to the forest. Or at least, Light and Fennix held Espurr while the three of them ran.

They kept going until they saw the forest on the horizon before stopping to take a break to rest up a little. Light and Fennix quickly set up a quick makeshift base camp and a cloth on the ground. There, they set up a platter of berries and some Elixir drinks for everyone to eat and drink to get their energy up.

While they were doing that, Amaranth had her eyes on the angle of the sun in the sky. "We might end up cutting things a little close. The good thing is, we're apparently close, so we should be fine."

"But while we're here…" Light stopped for a moment, hesitant on bring this up. However, it had been welling in him since their encounter with Mewtwo and he wanted answers now. "Well…"

Amaranth sighed, her eyes lowering back towards the group. "Yeah, I suppose you want an explanation for me being a kidnapper and attempted murderer, right?"

"I'd…sort of rather not ask," Light admitted. "I can tell this isn't something you really want to talk about. But at the same time…"

Amaranth met his eyes with hers, showing a lack of fear in them. "As little as I like it, you've already heard enough. So I might as well tell you what you want to know."

Amaranth closed her eyes and sighed. "Do any of you know the meaning behind the name Amaranth?" the shaymin asked. Light, Fennix, and Espurr all glanced at each other. The pikachu didn't know, and he guessed by the confused faces of the other two kids that they had no clue either. Eventually, Amaranth spoke and got everyone's attention back at her.

"Amaranth, in the language of flowers, is known as the immortal flower," the Grass-type explained. "That's…who I am. I am a Mythical Pokémon, and I can live for as long as I want."

"You told me that before," Light mentioned, remembering that night that felt so long ago even though it was only two days. "You mentioned that was why you didn't want to make friends with anyone in the Expedition Society." However, as Light thought about that day, he remembered something else he mentioned. "Wait…I asked you before if lost someone before. T-that's exactly what happened, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is. Once, a long time ago, I had a son."

"A son?" Fennix asked after finishing off a berry. "Why would that matter? Wouldn't they be a shaymin like you?"

"Adopted son," Amaranth clarified. "I found an Egg that was abandoned by their parents. And I tried to find their parents, going all the way to the Water Continent, but ended up adopting the kid as my own son. It led to the happiest time of my life but was also the worst mistake of my life."

"I…had a family," Amaranth continued, her wide eyes and unfocused. "I had a son, who got a mate, and had a son himself. And my grandson also found himself a mate and had two young children. I was on the top of the world. But I forgot one important thing. My son was getting old. Real old. It was a miracle that he was alive for that long, but he didn't last much longer. Soon, he died."

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry," Espurr stammered, her mouth open in shock.

Amaranth closed her eyes. "That event wasn't the last. My great-granddaughter started hanging out with the wrong crowd. She had ambitions and wanted to take those ambitions where she could. She eventually left the tiny village, and her and her friends eventually joined an outlaw group. And I went with them, wanting to both get away from home and protect her in a place where the rest of her family couldn't. That was when it started. That was when I joined the 'Venenum Spinam'. The Poison Thorns."

"Venenum Spinam," Fennix repeated.

Amaranth opened her eyes back up and turned her gaze towards the fennekin. "Yes, it's a word in the ancient tongue. It was a stupid name for a stupid group. One that died out pretty quickly. But that was the start of my 'outlaw' carrier."

The shaymin chuckled hollowly. "The Venenum Spinam took so much pride in the fact that they had a Mythical Pokémon in their groups. They boasted all around about me. But I did nothing for them. My job was only to protect my Great-Granddaughter. That's it. But…they figured it out eventually and started sending her on more and more dangerous missions to get me to participate in it as well. And that…" Amaranth audibly gulped, "killed her."

Light and Espurr both loudly gasped while even Fennix had a teary-eyed expression as she tried to catch Amaranth's eye.

"At that point. I was tired of it all. As part of the group I saw so much. So much death and destruction and I was tired of it all. And after she died, I snapped. I wanted to do something. Something to stop all this death. I wanted to find someplace. Someplace…I imagine is familiar to you all. …The Tree of Life."

"The Tree…of Life," Light breathed.

"I wanted to find Xerneas," Amaranth finished. "And either force him to make all Pokémon immortal…or have him end me. I wanted either one of those so badly that it was all I could think of. I committed horrible act after horrible act…and all for the stupidest of goals anyways."

Amaranth laughed again, a loud and broken laugh that disturbed Light more than anything. "Making all Pokémon immortal…hah! I knew nothing back then. I was an idiot. I don't even blame the explorers who caught me, since they stopped me from continuing with my stupid quest. And they gave me the chance to clear my head and realize how stupid I was. But that's what happened. That's why I became an outlaw and kidnapped and tried to murder to get my way. All for the stupidest of goals."

"So…that's it." Light stared into the fire. The pikachu wasn't exactly sure what he felt about Amaranth's story. He was grateful that the shaymin told him, but he didn't exactly like what he heard. It wasn't exactly the best thing to learn.

Fennix pointed her eyes and snout to the ground, and as Light glanced at her, he saw water forming at the bottom of her eyes. "Amaranth…sorry. I never thought you'd've went through something like that. All this time, I've been a such a big jerk to you. Sorry."

Amaranth scoffed, her face glancing off to the side at nothing. "I don't need sorrow or pity. Nor was I angry or depressed at your comments. I am a jerk, through and through. I really don't care. I can't anymore. The moment I care for something temporary is the moment I lose myself. So you have every right to hate me like you do. And it doesn't bother me one bit."

"But it does," Espurr perceptively noticed. "As much as you say it doesn't, your body language shows otherwise. I don't think it doesn't affect you as much as you say it doesn't."

Amaranth still faced away. "Let's move on from this. We've got better things to talk about them my past."

Light nodded. "Y-yeah, we should. I…think we all need some time to think this stuff over anyways. Time when we're not worried about what we're doing next. For now…" Light stood up and stretched, "I'm feeling ready to get moving through the dungeon again. Should we get going into the Twisted Forest?"

Everyone else also stood up, except for Amaranth, who was still not catching anyone else's eye. "One more thing. And this is much more important than my past."

Fennix chuckled. "I kinda think everything is more important than your past to you."

Light tilted his head and lifted his ears, ready to listen. "What's up?"

"A warning, if you will. I think it's about time for me to tell you what I've been doing so much research on. Since Mewtwo has all but confirmed my suspicions."

Light sat back down. "What's going on?"

Amaranth turned her gaze back towards Espurr once again. "Espurr, I have one last question for you. It's one I've asked you many times before, but I want to make sure one last time. Do you remember anything about your parents?"

"No, I don't," Espurr confirmed. "No matter how much I try to think about it…I can't remember anything."

"And trying gives you a massive headache, doesn't it?" Amaranth asked.

Espurr nodded. "Y-yeah, it does. Well, nowadays it makes me feel very lightheaded…but it's still the same. I just can't remember it."

"Good. I'm sure of it, now. I'm sure of what caused your Psychic Block."

"You do?!" Light and Fennix both asked in tandem.

"Is it the same thing you suspected…when you talked to me earlier?" Espurr asked. "The same thing that makes it…impossible for your friend to help me?"

Light's eyes pinged between the two in the interim of their conversation, confused as to what they talked about.

"Yes, and it isn't a pleasant thought," Amaranth said. "I don't know how to say this tactfully, so I'll just put it bluntly. I believe your parents were the cause of your Psychic Block?"

"M-my parents…did what?!" Espurr asked as she stood up and took a few steps back, her eyes wide.

"I believe your parents used their psychic powers to mess with your mind," Amaranth continued without missing a beat. "You were young when you parents left, but you weren't young enough that you should have no memories of them. Not only that, but something like a 4-year-old having the ability to survive on her own like you did until someone found you? I'm sorry, but I don't believe it."

Light's mouth hung open and his mind was blank. "So, what you're saying, Espurr's parents really, what?"

"I believe that, before they left, Espurr's parents used their combined psychic powers to tamper with her mind," Amaranth explained, looking at Espurr with her psychic powers. "With their power, they erased all her memories of them and places survival skill she needed until someone found her. I believe they also implanted a strong desire to stay in Serene Village, regardless of her actual feelings on the subject. Unfortunately, tampering with a Pokémon's mind is an extremely dangerous thing to do. For reasons that should be obvious to anyone with a sane mind."

"And this tampering, that was what caused her Psychic Block?" Light asked. He knew the answer to that question already but couldn't help but ask anyways.

"More than likely," Amaranth confirmed. "In all honestly, Espurr is lucky to be alive right now. The moment her parents tampered with her mind, she was a walking time bomb. She could have had her Psychic Block start at any time."

"Th-that's horrible!" Fennix stammered.

"D-do you know why…it happened now?" Espurr asked, though Light could hear the hesitancy in her voice.

"Honestly, no, I don't," Amaranth admitted. "I've got a few suspicions, but I don't know the exact reason. It could be because you're nearing the age of maturity and your mind and body are going through some changes. It could be because you were thinking about why you were stuck in Serene Village and accidentally triggered your Psychic Block. I'm guessing the later, since you've mentioned several times that thinking about it gives you a headache. But it could also be a combination of the two. I really don't know and couldn't tell you."

"Unfortunately, that leads to a massive problem. Two of them in fact. First off, remember when I mentioned that if we failed to find her parents, I'd be able to bring in someone I know to try? That's not possible with this specific problem. Espurr's parents were the ones who caused this problem, so they need to be the ones to fix it. As for the second problem…let's just say this will be a more difficult operation and leave it at that."

Light glanced over at Fennix and noticed that she was a mixture of many things, her eyes wide and tears forming below them being the most prominent, but her brows were also furled down in anger. "Why…why would Espurr's parents do something like that?!" Fennix yelled in an affronted voice.

"Isn't that the question of the day?" Amaranth dismissed, and Light could easily tell that she knew the answer to that question. "Regardless, we've been here long enough. We've got a dungeon ahead of us, so let's get moving."

Light sighed. "I suppose so." Light stood up once again, though this time it was slower and without nearly the amount of energy he did before. "Let's go everyone."

* * *

With everyone rested up and ready to go, and with twilight in the background, they proceeded into the Twisted Forest. After his experience with the Moonlit Forest, Light was glad to see that this forest was both nowhere near as dark or cramped as the Moonlit Forest, meaning that they were able to navigate through it without too much problems. Not only that, but the enemies inside the forest weren't too difficult as well.

Tangela, Seedot, and Skidoo, the dungeon had plenty of Pokémon like that. All small basic Grass-type's that weren't that strong. Fennix with her Flamethrower, Amaranth with her Air Slash, both of them took out most of their opponents without too much trouble. And any enemy that managed to sneak up on them was instantly met with Light's tail. So the enemies were absolutely no problem whatsoever. Light felt relieved at first, since things were going so well. There was even a nice breeze that made it so they weren't too hot in this forest.

However, that joy soon disappeared when they figured out exactly what they were dealing with in this dungeon. They had been walking for about an hour, or at least Light felt like it was around an hour, when Light noticed a clearing in the trees pouring out sunlight. He was confused and glanced back to see that everyone else was as well. But, knowing that they wouldn't figure out anything from here, Light took them forward beyond the clearing to see what they could find.

And once they did they saw yellow skies with a few clouds in them and a grassy plain stretching out before them. Light examined their surroundings and immediately noticed the area they set up base camp in. Therefore, he realized how true Mewtwo's words were.

"Well…that was a pointless waste of time," Amaranth bluntly stated.

Light glanced back at the forest, his eyes wide in shock. "H-how, though? I didn't notice anything out of place. Or any indication that we were going on a right or wrong path."

Amaranth locked eyes with the pikachu. "Do you know anything about this 'Inflora Forest' that Mewtwo mentioned was this place's 'sister dungeon' or whatever?"

Light once again pulled out the map on his gadget. "Let's see here…Inflora Forest. Hmm…alright, got it. The Inflora Forest has a similar gimmick where if you go through the forest the wrong way, you'll end up back where you started. In that dungeon, you had to look at the flower at the entrance and follow that same type of flower throughout the dungeon."

"But there weren't any flowers!" Fennix exclaimed. "At least…I didn't see any."

"I didn't notice…any either," Espurr assured them. "And since you guys have been fighting everything rather well…I was paying attention to everything else. There were no…out of place patches of grass, nothing strange about the trees, nothing that I could really see…that would tell us where to go."

Light glanced at her and noticed she was facing the ground. So he pushed his own emotions back and forced a smile on his face. "Thanks for that, Espurr."

Unfortunately, Espurr didn't meet his eyes. "Not that it…helped much."

Light shook his head. "Nah, I'm sure it'll help. We just have to think of what the way to go is."

"Would Guiding Wands help us?" Amaranth asked.

Light scratched the back of his head. "They don't in Inflora Forest according to the Pokémon Nexus's data. We could try it here as a last resort. Problem is, we don't exactly have a lot of them, and we don't know how long the forest will go."

Amaranth scoffed and rolled her eyes. "'We don't have a lot of them' huh? Maybe we shouldn't have burned them to make torches, then? Just a thought."

Fennix blushed. "Well…I mean…"

Light continued to scratch while he thought about the possibilities. "There must be some way to go through it. Some indication we're missing."

"Hmm…" Espurr closed her eyes in thought for a few seconds, too. Eventually, though, she opened her eyes back up wide. "Hey…I just thought of something."

Everyone turned their attention to the small girl. "Has anyone else…noticed the lack of wind out here, despite the fact that it was blowing…noticeably in the forest?" Espurr asked.

Light glanced at everyone else, specifically looking for any ripples in their fur that would indicate it was blowing, as he couldn't really feel anything himself. But he didn't even notice a single piece of fur that was riffled by any blowing, certainly not anything as noticeable as what was in the forest.

"Hmm…yeah, you're right!" Light smiled as the possibility hit him. "I don't think there's much wind at all."

"So, you think the wind might be the secret to going through the dungeon?" Amaranth repeated. "That seems…too simplistic."

Light shook his head, holding onto the hope they got with all his being. "What do you mean by, 'too simplistic?' It sounds exactly like something that a Mystery Dungeon would do."

"Remember what Mewtwo said? This dungeon is a place that even the best explorers from H.A.P.P.I couldn't go through. You'd think someone would think to 'follow the wind'. Two kids aren't going to figure out through a simple observation what many Pokémon around here took years to figure out."

A part of Light was feeling frustrated, but he clutched his right arm with his left to calm down a little. "We don't have much else we can do. We might as well try it out."

Amaranth rolled her eyes. "It's a waste of energy, but whatever. Let's just get this over with."

So the four Pokémon walked into the forest once again, walking with the wind blowing behind their backs. Luckily, in this walk through the forest they faced no new enemies, so the walk was without turbulence. Unluckily, they saw the same clearing once again and went through to find themselves back at the start.

"W-what?!" Fennix yelled. "Back again?!"

Light's heart fell as he saw the darker shades of purple approaching in the sky. "That…didn't work how I was hoping it would."

Amaranth scoffed. "I warned you. The wind was too easy. Too obvious of a choice for anyone with basic observation skills. That…and I thought of something else on the way. I don't think one can just walk through normally. I think the guardians of the forest won't let them."

"The 'guardians of the forest'?" Fennix asked. "You mean, Celebi?"

Amaranth glared at her. "Guardians, plural. No, not Celebi. Vivi and Selena."

"My parents?!" Espurr asked.

Amaranth turned her gaze towards Espurr. "Yes, your parents. I could be wrong, but I imagine they're using their psychic powers to mess with our perceptions of the place, preventing us from moving forward. So long as their psychic power is at work, we're stuck constantly returning back to the entrance."

Light scratched the back of his head. "So, how would we get through that?"

"Isn't that the question of the day," Amaranth mused. "If Espurr had her psychic powers, she could use her telepathy to help. I'm sure that she could see the way at that point. She could easily connect to her parents and figure out where they are. But without any psychic powers…"

"If it's my parents then…" Espurr turned her eyes towards the forest. "…Light, Fennix, I want to go in there and try something."

"Try something?" Amaranth asked.

Espurr glanced back at the group, desperation on her face. "Please."

Amaranth shrugged. "If you want to try, I suppose we can't stop you. Though, as you've probably noticed, we don't exactly have a lot of time left. It's sunset."

"I think…it will work," Espurr nodded encouragingly.

So the four Pokémon once again walked into the forest, this time everyone following behind Espurr. Once they walked a decent length in, Espurr lifted her head up into the leaves covered sky. Espurr closed his eyes, and Light walked closer to her, unsure what exactly she was doing.

"Mom…dad!" Espurr yelled as she opened her eyes. "P-please! I need you! Please let us through!"

Everyone stood there, shocked at what she did. "…What?" Amaranth barked. "That's the big thing you wanted to try out? What makes you think…"

However, the wind suddenly started blowing in a different direction then what it was blowing before. Espurr's eyes opened wide seeing that while Amaranth had her mouth agape. Light couldn't blame the shaymin, while it was potentially true that Espurr's parents were the ones blocking them, he didn't expect them to just open the door for them. However, he had to admit one thing. If this was Espurr's parents letting them through, that made him more hopeful that they were moral Pokémon, despite what they did.

"Let's go," Espurr definitively said, no doubt anywhere on her face.

"Be careful," Amaranth warned. "I'm not sure It trust this."

The quartet continued, once again following the wind. This time, though, there was no sudden shifts, no variances in their path. They walked forward without moving any other direction through the dungeon. It was a rather easy walk, and Amaranth noticed this. Light saw her eyes shift as she became more and more suspicious. It sent a chill down his spine, and he hoped more than anything else that she was wrong.

Eventually, though, they found a small opening between a few trees, one that almost seemed like a door could fit between them. Espurr quickly walked through as she saw it, Light and Fennix following close behind. When they passed the opening, they entered into a small glade that was surrounded by trees on most sides and a rock wall on the far side. The glade wasn't the thing of note, though. Standing in the middle of the glade, was two different meowstic, one male and one female. Light didn't know for sure, but the recognition on Espurr's face told him it was true. They finally reached their objective. There, standing before them, was Espurr's parents.

"Mom? Dad?" Espurr asked.

"Espurr?" both of them asked at the same time. "I-it can't be."

Amaranth walked forward. "You two are Vivi and Selena, right?"

The two meowstic glanced at each other. "Y-yes, I'm Vivi," the male meowstic said. He had a higher pitched male voice.

"A-and I'm Selena," the female meowstic said. She had a smooth clear voice. "You…are you really our daughter?"

Amaranth did not follow up on her question after that confirmation. She audibly inhaled and gave a deep breath honing her emerald eyes on the pair and she stood in silence as if she was deep in thought about something. As Light glanced at her, he couldn't really figure out what the shaymin was thinking.

Espurr's eyes darted away from her parent's as she spoke. "Y-yes, I am. I'm from…Serene Village. In the old house. M-mom…d-dad."

Light expected Espurr and her parents began to walk closer to each other, and Espurr's parents did attempt to walk closer to their daughter. However, Espurr instead skid behind Amaranth, her eyes still not connecting with her parents. And Amaranth gave both of the meowstic as deadly of a glare as she could. Using Psychic, Amaranth pulled out her Expedition Society badge and showed it off.

"My name is Amaranth, and I am from the Expedition Society. Vivi and Selena, you two are under arrest for your crimes as part of the Blood Moon Bandits."

* * *

 **An: For those of you who have read my previous stories, yes, Amaranth is exactly who you think she is. For those of you who haven't, don't worry, everything you need to know about Amaranth is known to you now. But she did make a prior appearance in my stories under a different identity. This is the closest thing to a conformation I'll give, though, both to not confuse new readers with information about a different story and because it's mostly irrelevant to the current one outside of the info I've given.**

 **But now we know Amaranth's past. There's just one other pair who have a lot of explaining they need to do.**

 **Beta read by TheGoldCrow**


	15. Blood for Blood

"Blood Moon…what?!" Light asked, glancing between Amaranth and Espurr. But all he saw from Amaranth was her glare, and all he saw from Espurr was sorrow, as if she somehow knew all this. And Espurr's parents both were giving each other nervous stares.

Fennix frantically whipped her head around, shocked as well. "What's going on? H-how?"

"It's what I've been researching this entire time," Amaranth growled, her glare still on the two meowstic. "I have an…old friend who has connections with the Exploration Team Federation. Through the Expedition Society I've been communicating with him. Specifically, looking into what type of missions Team Mystik took."

"T-they took outlaw missions, right?" Light asked. "We already know that."

Amaranth chuckled venomously. "Yes, and that was something that was rather impressive. Taking outlaw missions early on in their exploration carrier. It was an interesting feat. Unfortunately, it was all a ploy."

"A ploy?" Fennix asked, her voice quaking.

"A lot of bandit groups lost a lot of members and even ended up dying because of those two," Amaranth continued. "They were the heroes of the Grass Continent for a time. However, there was one bandit group that didn't lose a single member to them. The Blood Moon Bandits. They were the terrors of the Grass Continent, yet Team Mystik, the great bandit catchers, couldn't do a single thing to them. Doesn't that sound suspicious?"

Light couldn't tear his gaze from the shaymin. "B-but…"

"I'll admit, I don't have hard proof." Amaranth began walking forward in long slow steps. "However, we know you two were outlaw hunters. At the same time, you never once fought the Blood Moon Bandits. Then you suddenly went to Serene Village, had a kid, and left them there while erasing her memories. Now, you're here along with the Blood Moon Bandits." Espurr's parents both went wide-eyed on that. "So, do you two have anything to say about that?

Vivi took a step back. "Y-you met the Blood Moon Bandits?"

"They ambushed us. When we were following the picture you left for Espurr, by the way." Amaranth growled, her next words dripping with sarcasm. "Thank you for leading us to your former coworkers by the way. It's made our job just so much easier."

Selena also followed the same movements as her mate. "You were ambushed by the Blood Moon Bandits?!"

"Yes, we were. Sad, isn't it? Your allies got you in even more trouble."

Vivi and Selena both glanced at each other in wide eyed horror. Quickly, they looked back at the group and threw their arms up. "You have to take Espurr and leave now! Hurry, before they come!"

"Heh heh…too late, Selena," a deep voice that sent a chill down Light's spine called from behind.

Light, Fennix, Espurr, and Amaranth turned around to see who was behind them. And Light was shocked at what he saw. A large group of Pokémon, if Light had a guess around 30 or so, all were behind them, blocking their only exit. Among them was the same vibrava and litleo that they saw previously, the same two that were part of the Blood Moon Bandits. And they were all following behind a greninja.

"Gheb," both Vivi and Selena whispered, their voices conveying one emotion. Pure terror.

"W-who?" Light asked.

Amaranth was the only one who wasn't shocked, confused, or terrified, instead walking around Espurr so she could be between her and the greninja. "Gheb, a greninja," Amaranth she calmly stated. "Also, the current leader of the Blood Moon Bandits, correct?"

The greninja crossed his arms. "Well, you seem to be researched. Good for you. Not that it matters."

Gheb's eyes went from the shaymin, to Espurr, the finally on Espurr's parents. A terrifying smile placed on his lips. A type of smile that signaled realization, a realization that spelled horrible things for them, especially when his eyes went back to Espurr. He had the gaze of hunter that had finally found defenseless pray to consume.

"Let me guess, this is your daughter," Gheb observed, sending another chill down Light's spine.

"W-who are you?" Espurr asked. "What's going on?"

"Ahh, isn't that cute?" Gheb chortled as he examined the girl. "Your daughter doesn't even know what happened. Well, go ahead, why don't you tell her. Tell her about all the horrible things we used to do together. I'm sure she'd love to hear about it. Besides…" Gheb extended his arms to show his group, "you're not going anywhere anyways. So why not extend the last remaining moments of your free lives?"

Light raised his shaking right hand and reached into his scarf with it, feeling around until he found the object he wanted to touch. "What's going on around here?" Light looked back at Vivi and Selena. "What do the Blood Moon Bandits want with you? Why would they follow us all the way to the Twisted Forest in western Mist just to find you? Weren't you…allies?"

Selena and Vivi turned their gaze to the ground. "No…I…I didn't want this," Selena groaned, her eyes closed and her paws clenched.

Vivi sighed. "I guess we do owe you guys an explanation. Even if I don't…like the reason why we're forced to explain myself."

"Fine," Selena said defeated.

Everyone turned their attention towards Espurr's parents, but Light noticed Amaranth keeping an eye on the bandits while she was at it.

"We were just regular explorers once," Vivi explained. "Once upon a time, what felt like years and years ago, Selena and I decided to form an Exploration Team together. We were both childhood friends and grew up in the same town together, so we knew each other pretty well. We were much younger and ambitions back then, with big dreams of exploring the world. We wanted to see everything we could. We wanted to experience everything we could."

"Oh, you sure got an experience alright!" Gheb bellowed with a loud laugh. "What was it, your first mission? Maybe second?"

Selena growled, glaring venomously at Gheb. "…Not even close."

"We did a few explorations before we met them," Vivi stammered, but Light got the feeling that he was assuring himself more than them. "We one day heard about a cave filled with wondrous treasure. You can imagine how intrigued that got us, so we went immediately. Well…we found the cave and the wondrous treasures. But…it turns out those treasures belonged to bandits. Specifically…" Vivi pointed at the greninja, "them."

"Boy, was that an interesting experience," Gheb cheered. "Two explorers just suddenly walking into our turf. I wouldn't have dreamed of such good luck! And they were both chickens, too!"

"We…weren't able to do anything," Selena growled. "There were too many of them. And Gheb had the advantage against us anyways. So, we were given a choice. Die there…or join them."

Gheb chuckled some more, finding infinite amounts of amusement from this conversation. "I will never say that I'll break a useful tool. And having an Exploration Team as a spy is a very useful tool. Access to whatever outlaw documents I need to know what my rivals are doing, and knowledge of what the Exploration Team Federation knows about us. And so many other useful things. Those two were a valuable asset."

"We were…forced to work with them," Vivi explained in a pained voice. "We told them everything about what outlaws were on various outlaw notice boards. We were forced to fight whatever outlaw groups they told us to so they could eliminate their rivals. And we were considered heroes for doing it, even though we were doing it for scummy outlaws. We were praised while the Blood Moon Bandits grew stronger."

"Sometimes we were asked to face off against the Blood Moon Bandits," Selena groaned defeatedly. "But…we couldn't take that request."

"Why didn't you just leave immediately?" Espurr asked. "Say you're going to do something, then run away once you're out of sight."

"Aren't you the funny one?" Gheb chortled. "The answer is obvious. They liked being a part of the group. Thanks to our intel, they found themselves outlaws that the Exploration Team Federation didn't even know about. They were heroes. Who cares if it came from Bandits when they were doing so much 'good.'"

Selena stomped her foot. "Shut it!" she barked. "We saw the things you did! All the atrocities you committed, the Pokémon whose lives you've ruined! We saw it all! Y-you forced us to watch some of the things you did! You think we enjoyed it?! It made me sick to my stomach!"

"Now now, cutie, it's not nice to lie when your daughter is around," Gheb scolded as if he was a parent talking to his child. Once he was done, he chortled once again. "But I'll admit, I never expected you to get cold feet." Gheb's eyes glanced towards Espurr. "But now I know why."

Vivi immediately stood between Espurr and Amaranth, blocking her from Gheb's view, his teeth clenched. "H-he's right, though. We didn't want to have any children while they were watching over our backs, but it happened anyways. And if we did nothing, she would be born into the Bandit world. Once we realized that, we realized how horrible that would be."

"Oh, you had nothing to worry about," Gheb said. "I would have taken _good_ care of her."

Selena rushed forward as well to block Espurr. "Don't you touch her!"

"Once we knew we were going to have Espurr, we knew we had to do something," Vivi continued. "So we made a plan of our own. We sent an anonymous note to the Exploration Team Federation telling them where the Blood Moon Bandits were staying, and when they arrived we used the confusion to disappear. There was this Pokémon, a quagsire, who we paid to take us across the sea before, who we asked once again to take us away from the Grass Continent. And he took us to the Water Continent, where we ended up settling down in the same village that we found once before while exploring. We thought since it was so small and out of the way and the Blood Moon Bandits were probably done for anyways that we would be safe there. We'd be able to start over."

"'Quagsire'," Light mouthed, wondering whether that was a coincidence or not.

Tears dropped from Vivi's face as he shook his head. "Unfortunately…it wasn't enough. A few years later, we heard word about a greninja around the area. It…could have been someone else, but we didn't want to take chances, especially with Espurr being as young as she is. We…panicked. So we wiped her memory of us, gave her the knowledge she needed to survive, and then ran to the Mist Continent."

"You were right," Gheb said. "We figured out where you cats went and were on our way to find you. After that little act of betrayal, we had to find you no matter where you went. But you slipped away yet again. This time, though, we were after you."

"You fell for it," Selena smirked. "We were hoping you would follow us. Keep you as far away from her as possible."

Gheb chortled. "Not like it mattered. Look where she is now."

"Not only that, but you failed at one other thing," Amaranth chimed in.

"Who's side are you on?!" Fennix yelled angrily.

Amaranth ignored her and continued. "Do you know why we're here looking for you in the first place? Your psychic manipulation of Espurr's mind has caused her to build up psychic energy without being able to release it. She has Psychic Block and, if not treated, it could very easily kill her."

"Psychic Block?!" Vivi and Selena asked at the same time.

Gheb let out a hearty laugh, a loud one that made Light half tempted to take his right paw from his scarf to plug his ears. "Isn't that funny! You tried so hard to keep that little girl away from me, yet in the end, you brought her to me on a silver platter. And now, all three of you are here for my revenge."

"I-it's us you want!" Vivi said. "Leave our daughter out of it!"

"Ha! You know I'm not like that!" Gheb glared at Light and Fennix. "Besides, my revenge isn't just on you.

Amaranth rolled her eyes. "You're seriously that angry about the Moonlit Forest?"

"Oh, not just about the Moonlit Forest. Though thanks for ruining our Mist Continent base." The greninja's anger made all of his boisterousness from before seem like a world away. "No, I have another reason. I believe the three of you happened to meet a frogadier? And sent him to jail?

Silence passed for a few seconds as neither Light nor Fennix responded at first. Light glanced at the greninja with a tilted head, confused as to what he was talking about, racking his brain as he tried to understand. Eventually, he gave up and just decided to ask.

"…Sorry, who? A…frogidier?"

He glanced towards Fennix, but the Fire-type shrugged as well. "Like I remember every outlaw we encountered."

"It was…just a few weeks ago," Espurr reminded them. "When we…were all together on a mission. He stole some berries from Kecleon's market."

"And you don't even remember him?" Gheb growled. "Yeah, that happened to be my son. While I don't care for him that much, he's still blood and I like to repay blood for blood. So even if she wasn't your daughter, she along with that pikachu and fennekin, are also on my list."

Amaranth shrugged. "Petty doesn't suite a bandit group like you. You want to become infamous, holding petty grudges against children will hold you back."

Gheb's eyes moved over towards Amaranth. "And who are you to say that to me, shaymin?" However, he paused for a moment to take a closer look at Amaranth. "Wait…could you possibly be."

"Nope," Amaranth spoke casually. "Sorry. I have heard of a shaymin who prefers their Sky Forme in a bandit group. Try asking them. If you can ever find it."

Gheb shook his head. "Well, I'll get the truth out of you eventually. I'd like to remind you three that you're in no position to do anything. You're outmatched. If you want a fight, you'll get it. But…if I'm being honest." Gheb smiled and extended his arms, showing his army behind him. "You have no chance. Just give up and accept your fate, my new slaves. If you're nice, I'll even help the little girl over there. I'd hate to let a cutie like her die."

"Help?" Light asked.

"She's going to die soon, right?" Gheb asked. "I ain't dumb. I've heard of Psychic Block before. I know how fatal it is. But I've got connections. Accept your new lives, give up without a fight, and I might save her. So what do you say?"

* * *

 **AN,** So here we are, now we know the whole truth about Vivi and Selena. What they did, what their actions are, things like that. A lot of people were expecting them to be straight up evil, heck I even got one person who suspected them to be the leaders of the Blood Moon Bandits. I thought about the idea a bit, but it doesn't really fit what I'm going for. In case it wasn't obvious, Vivi and Selena are both counterparts to Amaranth, normally well-meaning Pokemon who were both joined a a bandit group for various reasons and made terrible mistakes in the process.

Special thanks to TheGoldCrow for beta reading


	16. Don't Give Up!

"W-what?!" Fennix yelled. "Y-you're saying…what?!"

Light immediately glanced at Amaranth as the expert in this situation. "Is that true? Would they really be able to save Espurr?"

"Depends," Amaranth calmly whispered. "Outlaw groups don't usually last that long unless they have some sort of medic to patch them up. But whether they can cure Espurr, that's another question entirely. I told you, I can't. Only certain Pokémon can help her, namely her parents. Could they force Espurr's parents to heal her and have a trained medic to make sure of it? That's certainly a possibility. Of course, remember the consequences."

"J-just leave me behind," Espurr whimpered.

Light and Fennix both looked back at her. "E-espurr, what are you saying?" Fennix asked.

Espurr closed and clenched her eyes, trying not to cry despite the circumstances. "Th-there's no way we can all get out of here. Th-there's too many of them, but so little of us. B-but, if we end up a fight, during the chaos you might be able to escape."

"But what about you?" Light asked.

"I…I'm dead anyways." Tears began falling from Espurr's face at those words. "I-it won't be long now before I die. B-but you guys have a lot left for you. A lot of fun adventures to go on. A lot of new places to explore. S-so I want you guys to live on. E-even if I can't."

"Espurr…" Light and Fennix said at the same time.

"Hmph, don't play the hero here," Amaranth scoffed. "Don't pretend you aren't scared of dying."

Espurr glanced away. "I…I am but…" Light shivered, seeing her like this. Her eyes were sorrowful, she refused to look anyone in the eye. There was no sign of defiance anywhere, neither on her body language nor on her face. The Psychic-type had given up.

"G-guys…" Light whispered softly. He wanted to reach out to her, to give her hope. He was clutching their hope against his neck right now. But his voice was caught in his throat.

Selena shook her head. "No Espurr, you need to live. One of us should stay here and distract them. And I'll do it."

Vivi grabbed onto his wife's shoulders and stared her in the eye. "Selena, you can't. I'll be the one to do it. You should go over there and help Espurr."

Selena glared at him. "You know you'll be much better when it comes to medical stuff. You'll have a much higher chance of saving her. You should go."

Amaranth rolled her eyes, still keeping her eyes on the outlaws. "You guys are idiots if you think a group of five Pokémon could make it out in the confusion. Two or three, maybe, but definitely not five."

"W-we can't…guys…" Light whimpered. _N-no. We can't give up like this. We can't…if I could just call louder…If I could just get their attention._

However, his voice was caught in his throat and he could do nothing but watch as Espurr and her parents argued over who was going to sacrifice themselves and who was going to leave. Not only that, but Light glanced towards Gheb and saw that the greninja was gleefully watching the proceedings. While they were keeping their voices soft and to themselves, the appearance on the bandit's leader's face told Light that he knew exactly what they were arguing, and he found it hilarious. His body felt numb and the world felt heavy.

Light lowered his head. "Darn it!" Light scoffed under his breath. "They're not listening. Nobody's listening. And if this keeps going…then…"

"Will you guys all shut up?!"

The pikachu's eyes widened and his heart skipped a beat as that voice interrupted him. As if on instinct, his head turned around to eventually face the Pokémon who spoke. There, he eventually locked eyes with his partner, who still had some fire in her eyes. Out of everyone—except for maybe Amaranth—she hadn't given up. And everyone else except for Amaranth turned their attention to her, their eyes wide with surprise.

"You all keep going on about 'I'll sacrifice myself', 'no I'll sacrifice myself'!" she scoffed, stomping her paw as she did so. "Don't you guys realize that sacrificing yourself means nothing?! It doesn't matter which of you decides to leave and which of you decides to stay! Somebody is going to get hurt because of it!" Fennix closed her eyes and her voice became quieter. "I…know somebody who once sacrificed themselves and it caused so much pain for a close friend of mine. Espurr, you know exactly what I'm talking about. You've seen it to. Do you think any of you, any of you, is really worth sacrificing?"

Fennix opened her eyes to glare at Vivi and Selena. "Even you. You've done so much bad to Espurr, leaving her without any parents for so many years, giving her that disease. You've got so much to make up for. Do you really think sacrificing yourself will help with that?! Well I don't! If you want to make it up to her, start by actually being there when she needs you!"

"And how do you want us to do that?" Selena barked. She waved all around herself. "We're surrounded! There's no way we can win."

"I don't know!" Fennix responded. "But I'm not good at that anyways. Ask my leader, he knows what we're supposed to do." Light watched as Fennix's eyes glazed towards his right arm, her mouth creased in a knowing smile. "You've already got a plan, don't you?"

 _Fennix…_ Light felt his heart beat faster and his paw twitched around the metal in his right paw. _And you're right. I do have a plan. With everyone like they were, with Espurr giving up, I almost forgot. B-but…_

"You guys," Light said a little louder so everyone—except hopefully the outlaws—could hear him. Thanks to the fact that their attention was already Fennix, he managed to get everyone's attention to himself and gave them all a comforting smile. "Nobody has to worry about sacrificing themselves."

Fennix's smile continued, and her red eyes still had the same determination to them. She hopped over next to Amaranth and joined the shaymin in staring down the outlaws.

"What's going on?" Vivi and Selena asked at the same time.

Light took his right paw out of his scarf finally, bawled his paws into fists, and joined Fennix and Amaranth in staring down the outlaws. "My plan is that we should fight!"

Almost everyone there looked at Light like he was insane. Gheb himself laughed loudly and boisterously at the very thought of what Light suggested. Still, the pikachu stood his ground and let nothing else but pure confidence radiate from his being.

"That's your big plan?!" Gheb chortled. "Out of all the Pokémon I've met, I think you're the stupidest I've ever seen! You seriously think you can win this fight?! Really?"

"I hate to agree with him, but he's right," Selena said next, her eyes filled with disbelief. "What makes you think you can possibly win?"

"Did I say we'd beat them all?" Light whispered, still smiling. "No. I just said we need to fight."

Selena shook her head. "What in the world are you talking about?"

"L-Light…Fennix?" Espurr asked.

At those words, Fennix gave the psychic cat a determined and fierce smile. "Trust us, Espurr."

Espurr stared at Light and Fennix, seeing her determination and his kindness, and soon a smile appeared on her face. Hope flooded into her eyes, and her face was filled with life. Light felt a massive weight disappear from his shoulders when he saw that. This was a face that had been missing all week, and the pikachu was more than glad to see it once again.

Espurr turned around to her parents with hope in her eyes. "Trust them."

Selena and Vivi looked at Espurr's sudden change of attitude then back towards Light and Fennix, wide-eyed amazement on their faces at the two Pokémon who caused such a sudden shift in her.

"If you want to give up, the go ahead!" Fennix stated. "But we're still fighting! Espurr's still fighting! So you guys should too! You got in this mess in the first place by giving up! Isn't it about time you fought?"

Vivi took a deep breath and nodded. "I don't know what you kids are planning but…I suppose you're right. It's about time we fought for ourselves. We'll help in any way we can. After all…it is our fault you guys are in this mess."

"Good." Light faced forward as he prepared for what would be the hardest fight of his life, harder than any Monster House he's ever accidentally run into. Light finally released his right paw from his scarf and used it to take his bag off his shoulders. He threw it in Espurr's direction. "Espurr, I want you to give items to Amaranth, Fennix, or me when we need it. Vivi, Selena, I want you to protect her while doing it."

Amaranth chuckled. "You've really got something, huh? Good. Creeps like these don't deserve to have things go their way."

Light confirmed with a nod. "It won't be easy, though. There are so many enemies."

Amaranth turned her gaze away from the bandits for the first time. "Then here's some advice from someone who's been in turf wars before. If you're stalling, focus on the attacks coming at you. Block, dodge, blow your opponent back, things like that. Don't focus on taking out your opponents like you usually do. Overextend yourself and you're destined to be knocked out."

Light nodded as Amaranth turned her attention back towards the outlaws. "Y-yeah, got it."

Gheb laughed heartily. "So you boys actually want to fight us?! Gotta admit, we've been having a right old laugh over here at the thought. Well, ain't that good for you? I guess teaching you a lesson works for me. Show you a little obedience and break you. Sounds good to me, alright."

Amaranth scoffed. "Ha, you seriously think you can break someone like me? I've seen hell itself. Staring in your face is nothing compared to that. Try all you like, you'll never get through to me."

Gheb rolled his eyes and extended his arms out wide. "Have you even seen my crew? And you really think you can take us? Don't make me laugh. You had trouble with what amounted to a sixth of this army. What do you think you can do to the leader and rest of them?"

"Oh, you'd be surprised," Amaranth laughed maniacally. "Honestly, do you really think anyone in your army has seen my full power? I am a Mythical Pokémon. I'm a far cry from the rest of you guys. Not only that, but a shaymin. A master of both the sky…and land." Amaranth brought both her paws into the air before slamming them to the ground. "Now then…let's even the playing field, shall we?"

Suddenly a bright light poured into the ground below the shaymin before spreading across the entire glade. When it passed over Light, Fennix, Espurr, and her parents, it did nothing. But when it passed over the outlaws, that light erupted from the earth, covering them in it. Cries and grunts of pain resounded through the entire forest from those outlaws as the power coursed through their bodies. Light's eyes opened wide as he watched all this happen.

"W-what in the world?!" Fennix asked.

"That's…Earth Power," Light mouthed. "But how…how does a shaymin know it?"

Amaranth shook her head. "Who cares how I know it. Just know that it'll take a bit before I can do another one of those. Now, you four. Once my Earth Power is done, they'll come after us! Get ready!"

Light wordlessly nodded before facing forward. As the light disappeared, most of the outlaws that weren't Flying-type took on heavy damage. Some were even knocked out from that one powerful attack, like the litleo, allowing Light to breathe a sigh of relief as that meant they could use items as much as needed.

"Fine then." Gheb glared at them, all sense of humor from before gone, as he formed two shuriken made of water on his webbed hands. "If it's a fight you want, then it's a fight you'll get. Get them, boys!"

The Water Shuriken were fired, so Light wreathed his tail in iron and used it to block one of the shuriken. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw one of Fennix's Psybeams hit the other shuriken flying towards them. He didn't have much time to focus on what the rest of his crew was doing, though, as soon the army of bandits were upon them.

It became pure chaos when the bandit forces clashed with Light and his allies. There were so many opponents, too many to keep track of. He quickly realized he had no choice but to take Amaranth's advice, as any time he focused on a strategy to take one opponent down, they would move to the back of the crowd and two more would take their place. He couldn't really pay attention to what the rest of his team were doing either, as they were quickly swallowed up by the storm. The pikachu could only focus on himself and the flurry of attacks that were surrounding him.

A Slash attack targeted towards Light's shoulder, which he deflected with an Iron Tail before giving the slashing Pokémon a Thunder Punch to the chest. He then had to duck to avoid a Hydro Pump that went flying over his head. While on the ground, Light used Grass Knot in the direction the Hydro Pump came from before using Iron Tail once again to block a Leaf Blade coming straight for his head. Deflect, then slam before the pikachu had to dodge out of the way of a punch attack that would have hit his face.

The feeling of being overwhelmed quickly pumped from Light's rapidly beating heart. A Razor Leaf flew at him, which Light managed to deflect with his Iron Tail once more, but soon after he deflected that attack a punch advanced straight for his cheek, and this one he couldn't do a thing about. Light was sent spiraling to the floor and he could taste the bitter taste of blood in his mouth. The outlaws didn't give him any time to recover either, as Light had to dodge out of the way of another Slash attack coming for him.

 _D-dang it!_ Light thought as a bunch of mud flew at him from a Mud Slap attack, the pikachu just barely able to get out of the way in time before his vision was impaired. _T-there's so many of them! H-how am I supposed to fight like this?_

"Light!" he heard Fennix yell before he saw a gale of heat blow back all the Pokémon that were surrounding him. It wasn't more then a few seconds later when his partner approached his side, a glare on her face as she examined their opponents.

"T-thanks for that, Fennix," Light panted.

"You doing okay?" Fennix asked, though she wasn't able to get an answer to that question before Light noticed a Water Pulse fly her way. The pikachu slammed into the Water Pulse with his Thunderpunch, returning it back to sender.

"Oh, you know, about as fine as I can," Light casually mentioned as he deflected a Leaf Blade attack again. Fennix noticed that and fried the hopefully Grass-type that used it with a Flamethrower, leaving flames in her wake that ignited some of the grass. "How's everyone else holding up?"

"Don't know," Fennix answered as she dodged a Metal Claw slash at her by jumping back. She used Flame Charge and wrapped around the opponent before hitting them in the chest and sending them towards Light. The pikachu used Brick Break on the opponent's back as soon as it was close enough. "Lost Espurr in the fight. Amaranth too."

"They should be fine," Light said as he dodged a Psybeam attack by tilting his head slightly to the right. "Espurr's got her parents. As for Amaranth…" Light wasn't able to finish that sentence before another Psybeam flew at him, aiming for the same spot. He switched sides with Fennix so she could respond to that long-ranged attack with her own Flamethrower. "…She seems to be able to take care of herself," Light finished.

Light was suddenly hit from underneath by a Dig attack that sent him in the air from the impact on his hind paws. He wasn't able to see anything but the sky at that point, but he felt heat on his back suggesting that Fennix shot a Flamethrower at whoever hit him. It wasn't much longer before Light landed with his back on the fennekin's back.

"Ow…that hurt," Light groaned as he quickly got off his partner, so as not to crush her.

"T-there's so many of them," Fennix squealed. "W-what do we do?"

Light shook his head. "J-just endure it. We…need to wait for help to arrive."

However, as Light said that, he felt a pulsing pain pulse from his chest, one that caused him to keel over for a second. A fist flew at him while he was defenseless, but Fennix luckily managed to shoot a Psybeam at the attacker to knock them back before they could get it off. This gave Light time to recover, but the pikachu still felt the pain coming from his chest.

"Crap." Light glanced through the battlefield, but all he saw was a sea of unfamiliar faces. "W-we need to fall back and regroup with everyone else. Espurr has my bag!"

"Yeah, but where is Espurr?" Fennix asked, and Light was forced to admit she had a point. Within the chaotic sea of outlaws, he couldn't really tell where anyone else was. Nor could he really see who friend or foe was. The pikachu had no way of finding Espurr within the waves like this.

"…Cover me!" Light commanded. "I'm going to try something!"

"Got it!" Fennix answered.

Fennix surrounded Light and herself in an impenetrable Protect barrier. While they were both protected, Light closed his eyes and brought his two paws together out in front of him. He took a deep breath and began thinking.

 _Please, grant me my wish!_ Light thought in his head. _Give us healing within the fires of this battle. And let my feelings reach out to my allies so they can join up with us._

Light could feel energy returning back to his body as his Wish attack took effect. Still, Light kept pleading with his mind, hoping that one of two things would happen. Either Espurr, her parents, and Amaranth would feel the effects of his Wish and would be able to rejoin them, or Espurr's parents would hear his mental cry with their telepathy and be able to find him anyways. Light hoped that either one of those would happen.

"Light…I can't keep this up forever," Fennix grunted as a myriad of attacks hit her shield.

Light opened his eyes up again and dispelled his Wish. "You can dispel it now. I did what I needed to. Now, we just have to wait, and hope."

Fennix nodded and the green barrier she created started disappearing. Light noticed two figures close to her, so he quickly crossed to his side and knocked both of them with two Thunder Punches in quick succession, giving Fennix the time to be able to move again after using Protect. Once Fennix was able to, she shot a Flamethrower at the two Pokémon Light just attacked, sending them further back.

However, even after that, enemies still approached them, for every one they managed to take out, four more took their place. Light fought, Fennix fought, fire and electricity pouring from them as they kept fighting. However, Light's constant use of moves to deflect off attacks, and Fennix's constant fighting back were starting to wear on them. Light could feel his stamina quickly draining from battle.

"M-man," Light panted.

"Y-yeah," Fennix agreed, despite Light not finishing his statement.

"J-just keep fighting," Light continued to assert, throwing off a Thunder Punch. "H-help is on the way."

"B-but…when?" Fennix asked.

Fennix got her answer, not by Light, though the pikachu wished he could answer her, but by a bright light that suddenly surrounded them. Light and Fennix ducked when they saw the flash and the outlaws to Light's right and Fennix's left were sent flying into their friends. When they both glanced back up, they saw Espurr's father rushing to their side, with Selena and Espurr right behind.

Vivi jumped out in front of the group and held both his paws stretched in front of his body. They glowed red with psychic power and two larger red hands appeared in front of him. A Bullet Seed and Water Shuriken attack both hit the hands and plunked off it harmlessly. Without missing a beat, he summoned those hands, now turned golden, around him, and they both clapped before the psychic aura spread to everyone else. Light could feel strength flood through him as the golden aura went into his body, and he noticed that Vivi did it a second time without any pause as well.

"W-what is that?" Fennix asked.

"Quick Guard and Helping Hand," Espurr answered. "He also has Prankster, which lets him use moves like those twice in succession."

Light looked over towards the young Psychic-type and noticed that she was pulling out a few Elixirs from his bag and gave one to him. Light happily gulped down the item, feeling the energy flow through him as the liquid fell down his throat and into his stomach. He saw her give the second Elixir to Fennix, and after that focused instead on the battle while he regained his strength.

A Pokemon's eye twinkled as it attempted to use Lear on Vivi, but Selena pushed him aside and took the debuff from the attack herself. However, that didn't seem to bother her one bit. Instead, she looked at the Pokemon furiously before blasting them with a supercharged Psychic attack. Light watched in awe as that happened.

"And that would be Competitive," Espurr explained before Fennix could ask anything. "Any stats lowered on her gives her strength. Along with the buffs d...he gave her, she's really powerful now. Even if it was all false, I can sort of see why they were outlaw hunters back in the day."

 _That's nice, but it does come at the cost of lowering other stats,_ Light thought as he turned his attention back towards Fennix and Espurr, seeing the former was finished with her Elixir. _I hope she doesn't go too far with it, otherwise that might cause trouble._

"T-thanks for that," Light panted. "Fennix, pull up another barrier. Vivi, Selena, come back in!"

"Are you still sure you want to do this, Light?" Espurr asked as Fennix used Protect and both the meowstic came back in. Light examined the family and saw that, while Espurr herself only had a bit of loose fur on her left side, her parents weren't faring that well. Vivi had a black eye and bruises all over her body while Selena's fur was wet and singed at the same time.

"I guess you've been using my items pretty liberally, huh?" Light chuckled.

Espurr's head turned towards the ground. "S-sorry."

Light shook his head. "No, it's no problem. If it's helping, it's helping. I can always go on a scavenging mission to restock on supplies. For now, though, I told you. Help is on the way. For now, we need to keep fighting."

"I just…wish I could be fighting with you."

"Espurr, you're helping plenty." Light motioned in the direction of both of Espurr's parents. "Fennix, your parents, and I would all be in a much worse state if it wasn't for you. Just because you're not in battle, doesn't mean you're not helping. Just like me. I'm not the strongest Pokémon in the world, but I can still help. And so can you. So keep supporting us, and we might just get through this."

"…I'll try my best."

While the shield was still up and keeping enemies by, Light asked a quick question to the three newcomers. "Anyone seen Amaranth anywhere?" The three shook their head, and Light noticed the barrier was starting to dissipate from all the attacks. "I guess it can't be helped. Let's just keep our defenses up."

"That's not all I can do," Vivi said. He closed his eyes, his ears opened up, and a yellow aura surrounded everyone. "Light Screen. Avoid direct hits, and that should help quite a lot."

"Hmph, aren't you all cute?"

Light turned his attention in the direction of the voice and saw the outlaws all scattered and separate so that their leader was visible to the five Pokémon. Gone was Gheb's hearty laugh and creepily cheerful demeanor. Instead, Light saw a face that sent shivers down his spine and made his fur stand up on end. This was the face of a Pokémon who was done with everything that was happening. Gheb looked serious for the first time, and that worried the pikachu to no end.

"You all fight and fight and fight," the greninja droned. "But what have you accomplished, huh? Aside from banging up some of my guys, you've done nothing. There's more than enough of us to wear you out eventually. Even if you keep using items. So why are you bothering."

"I'm not the type to give up so easily." Light stood defiantly, hoping that his chattering teeth didn't betray how truly scared he was. "I've…stared down the embodiment of darkness and am still standing here. What are you compared to that?"

Gheb wasn't impressed. "Oh, I'm sure," he mocked. "But here's the thing, kid. We're bandits. We do what we want, when we want. You know what that means? I've seen the darkness in Pokémon's hearts too. I work with them. I live with them. We're a force that can't be stopped. You ain't seen nothing yet. Come a few years into my 'service' and then you can tell me whether you should've been scared or not. But not while you're green."

"Implying we'll even join you!" Fennix yelled.

"Oh, I'll break you eventually," Gheb promised. "It'll only be a matter of time. And I know exactly how, too."

The greninja once again summoned two Water Shuriken in his webbed paws. However, before he fired his attack, he signaled some of the other outlaws to fire as well. Light had already wreathed his tail in iron, so he was able to deflect the trail of leaves that flew at them, and Fennix's Psybeam stopped a Mud Shot while Selena's and Vivi's Psybeams stopped a Sludge Bomb, but there was nobody else able to stop the stream of five Water Shuriken that were fired after all the other attacks. And all of the Shuriken were headed straight for Espurr.

"NO!" Light yelled.

Light saw Espurr brace herself for the attack, but two white shockwaves appeared from the sky and destroyed all five of the shuriken, white smoke surrounding Espurr as they exploded. The smoke quickly cleared, and Light gasped at what he saw in front of the psychic cat. Standing there, arms wide protective of her, was Buizel.

"Buizel, what are you doing here?!" Light asked the Water-type. However, he quickly had to sidestep a Slash coming for him before he could get his answer.

Buizel fired an Ice Beam at the opponent who attacked Light, freezing them in place. "I've been trying to find you guys since I brought the kids back to Serene Village," Buizel quickly explained. "Didn't catch up with you until you reached the forest, though. Honestly, I figured I'd be protecting you from the shaymin. But this works to."

"Glad you have so much faith in me." And from the same patch of shrubbery an Energy Ball was also fired into the fray. "The Chief is going to be pissed after this, but whatever. We need all the help we can get."

"Yeah, I can see that." Buizel sized up the greninja and pumped his flippers together. "Looks like a fun challenge. That greninja there the leader?"

"I happen to have a name," Gheb growled. "But fine. Another distraction, another slave. It's all the same to me."

Light soon had to jump back to avoid a fist coming straight at him and Buizel. Both of them managed to dodge it easily, and Espurr shot a Blowback Wand at them to push them away, but Light was quickly hit by a Sludge Bomb on his left side as dodged to the back. Luckily, the Light Screen was still up protecting him from damage, and he didn't feel sick afterwards, but Light didn't like that he took a hit from not paying attention. So the Pikachu got back on his two paws and took a quick glance around to prepare for what came next.

Another Sludge Bomb, likely from the same Pokémon, flew at him, but Light deflected that attack quickly with his Iron Tail. He saw Selena fire a Psybeam at that Pokémon in response. Light wanted to search the battlefield to see where everyone else was at and what they were doing, but he couldn't do much before he saw a Dragon Claw and Aerial Ace heading his direction. Light ducked under the Dragon Claw from the Dragon-type before rushing under their legs to avoid the Aerial Ace. Light hit the Dragon-type with an Iron Tail before rushing forward a bit more to get back to the main group. A quick glance around the battle didn't show him Fennix, but he did find Vivi, Espurr, and Buizel at least. So Light rushed towards them.

"Light, duck!" Buizel quickly warned as he saw Light coming, and Light complied just as quickly, going onto all fours and running that way. He felt a chill run down his back as Buizel fired an Ice Beam over him, likely to hit whatever pursuers he had behind him. He also saw that behind Buizel, Vivi was using Protect to deflect a dark sword Gheb was swinging at the meowstic and Espurr. Light focused there, standing back on his hind paws as he charged electricity into his left paw. As Vivi's barrier disappeared from the attacks that hit it, Light socked the greninja in the stomach with his Thunder Punch, sending him back a few inches.

"T-thanks for that," Vivi panted.

Light could only nod before Gheb rushed back at him, swinging his flippers wildly. Light dodged it twice before using Brick Break to deflect Gheb's third hit with his own. The two attacks clashed, but Gheb proved himself stronger, pushing Light's arm out of the way before slamming into Light's stomach with his foot. Light keeled over, but Buizel managed to prevent any other attacks from hitting Light by slamming into the greninja with an Aqua Jet attack. This gave Light a chance to recover, just in time too as he saw a Pokémon rushing towards Buizel with a Bite attack. Light used Grass Knot to trip that Pokémon up before slamming their jaw with Iron Tail. He could hear a whine of pain but ignored that.

"Geez, this is probably the largest fight I've been in," Buizel casually mentioned before shooting a Hydro Pump into the crowd of bandits. "There's…so many enemies. Guess I'm really getting an endurance test, here."

"I…know," Light said, his heart beating against his chest so hard he felt like it wanted to break out. "B-but we just need to…"

"Don't worry, I'm not about to lose yet," Buizel promised.

"Espurr, how are you holding up?" Light asked, turning back to face her while Buizel covered him.

"I…I don't know." Espurr's eyes were wide and her breath was coming out strained. "T-there's so much…going on. So many attacks."

"Great, that's not good," Light groaned. He knew exactly what she was feeling. It was something that had been tugging at him for a while now, though he focused on the battle to ignore it. With so much going on and so many enemies, it was pure atrophy around the forest. There were way too many factors and way too much to worry about at once. And, for one that could only fire a wand shot when she got a clear shot and was otherwise forced to watch it, the chaos was even worse. Combine that with feelings of helplessness, and Light realized how little time they really had.

"Buizel, we need some sort of game changer." Light turned back to find Buizel. When he did, he noticed Fennix rejoined them as well, and both of them slammed into a Pokémon on both sides with a Flame Charge and Aqua Jet.

"If you've got any suggestions, I'd love to hear it," Buizel stated when he landed back into the ground. Fennix focused on firing off another Flamethrower into the crowd.

Light examined his surroundings for the greninja. "I-if we take out their leader, it might cause a change. They might lose moral, some of them might stop fighting, or something. But Espurr can't handle all of this, and the rest of us aren't faring much better."

"Pretty tall order, but we might have a shot." Buizel followed Light's eyes and they both found the greninja barking orders a few yards away from the action. "You thinking of doing what I think you're thinking?"

Light braced himself for the pain already. "Yeah, I am." Light quickly glanced at Vivi and Fennix. "Fennix, Solarbeam. Vivi, protect her. Espurr, get close."

They all nodded at Light, so he focused on Buizel, extending his left paw out. "Let's do this."

"Alright," Buizel cheered. Buizel grabbed it before throwing Light high into the sky. While Light was flying, he focused on the greninja, even as that Pokémon became smaller and he could see more of the glade. Light was surprised, from his height, that there wasn't more smoke around the place from Fennix's flames, but he didn't worry much about it. Instead, he wrapped his entire body in electricity, his Volt Tackle ready for the next part of the plan.

It wasn't long later when he felt something push against his paws, a powerful force. The pikachu knew exactly what that force was too, Buizel's Aqua Jet. Light ignored the pain and focused only on maintaining his Volt Tackle as he went flying at high velocities towards the greninja. It was less than a second between when Light was in the air and when he reached the Water/Dark-type, so short that the bandit leader didn't have time to react. All he could do was stare wide-eyed as Light slammed into his stomach once more, this time with a high velocity Volt Tackle. Light could already feel the recoil from the attack and his drop from space throb all over his body, but the pikachu ignored the pain. Instead, he focused all his attention on Gheb.

The greninja was clearly weakened considerably from the attack, but he could still stand and immediately focused on the pikachu as his target. Gheb rushed at him, dark swords formed in his webbed flippers as planned to use Night Slash on the pikachu. But Light used the last ounce of his strength left to dodge the first one before placing his left paw to the ground. Vines breached the surface of the earth and surrounded Gheb, holding him in place.

 _Now it's your turn,_ Light thought, though he didn't look back. He didn't have the energy to move. All he could do was stand there with his paw on the ground and hope that the greninja wouldn't break free. It wasn't long after that, though, that he saw a green light fill his eyes and feel a powerful energy just a bit past his left side. Light smiled and closed his eyes when he felt that. _Checkmate._

The pikachu's left arm that was holding him up collapsed and the Electric-type felt his consciousness fade. However, before he could hit the hard ground, a berry was thrown in his mouth. And before his conciseness could fade, he felt energy pour through him. With that energy, Light opened his eyes to see two white-furred arms over his chest. One that belonged to Selena.

"Light, are you okay?!" Espurr asked.

Light put weight back into his two paws that were touching the floor and stood up straight, Selena's arms pulling back. He turned around to see Selena, Espurr, and Vivi all behind him. Light gave Espurr a smile to soothe her worry, though he wasn't entirely sure how convincing it was with how banged up he imagined himself to be.

"Is Gheb?" Light asked as he examined his surroundings. He saw that Buizel and Fennix were still fighting enemies from behind, and the battle was long from over. The two were making their way over towards the rest of the group while fighting, however, and soon made it over. Still, Light didn't see the answer to his question yet. Vivi and Selena also shook their heads, indicating that they didn't know either.

So Light continued examining the battlefield, in hopes of answering that question. However, his answer came, not from his eyes, but from his ears. Light heard a deranged laugh from his right side, prompting him to glance over there immediately. There, he saw the greninja lying on the ground, however his body kept stirring as the laughter kept coming from there. Eventually, the greninja slowly got back up, still giggling as he did so. One the greninja made it back on his feet, he gazed at everyone.

"Well well, I gotta admit something. Didn't expect any of that. To think, you guys nearly did me in. Nearly."

"B-but how?" Light asked. He saw out of the corner of his eye that Fennix and Buizel also joined up with the group now, Fennix using Protect to keep attacks at bay.

The greninja reached into his tongue and pulled out a seed. Light recognized it immediately as a Plain Seed, which in it of itself isn't anything special. However, Light knew the implications of seeing that seed there immediately. And the greninja just crushed the now-useless seed within his webbed flippers.

"I'm the leader of the Blood Moon Bandits," Gheb reminded them. "I've been in plenty of fights before. And sure, I've got a large army with me who can take out any normal explorer. But you know, while I'm at it, why not keep a Reviver Seed close? Sure, it's one of the rarest items in the world. But you never know what could happen. That'll cost you, by the way."

"N-no," Light gasped.

From behind Light noticed the remaining Blood Moon Bandits advance, a group of still more than 20 despite how long the fight as gone. In front of them was Gheb, still up and raring to go thanks to that Reviver Seed. Light wasn't sure how much they had left for supplies in his bag, but considering Espurr hasn't given him anything yet, he imagined not much was the answer. And he was out of stamina himself, with everyone else not likely far ahead. They were trapped.

"You figure it out yet, kid?" Gheb asked. "We're unbeatable. Just accept your defeat right here and now. Get in front of me and beg for your life. We'll see how merciful I feel after that."

"I…I…" Light glanced at Espurr and saw the look of pure terror on her face.

"Great, this is happening again," Selena growled.

Vivi sighed and had a forlorn expression. "I guess we were wrong. You…really can't fight against the Blood Moon Bandits. And we were fools for trying."

Hearing this, Light shook his head and stood between everyone else and Gheb. Despite his lack of energy, Light still mustered up the strength to wrap his paw in electricity one more time. And Light gave the fiercest and most determined expression he could.

"No," Light answered decisively. "I-I won't give up, no matter what. S-so long as I have something to fight for, I'll always keep fighting. A-and I know my friends will do the same. So bring it on, Gheb. J-just see how strong we are."

"Light," he heard Espurr say, but Light wasn't sure what her voice meant, whether she was impressed or scared. All he focused on was still fighting, still waiting out the time, until help finally arrived. Even if it took him out first.

"You know Gheb, it's funny," Amaranth said. Light saw the shaymin jump out of the grass again to show herself to everyone else, her on the outlaw leader.

"Look at these kids. They're so young, but willing to keep fighting against impossible odds. They believe that they can still win, even if everything else is against them. It's the most naïve thing I've seen in the world, and I've been around for a very long time. But, gotta give them credit. Not many Pokémon are willing to fight to the death like they are. Most Pokémon are so afraid for their lives that they couldn't do something like this kid did. Vivi and Selena were too afraid to defy you, I bet you were too afraid to deny the last leader. And I was too afraid to…stop someone from joining the Poison Thorns. We could never be like this kid."

"Your point, shaymin?" Gheb growled. "I really don't feel like delaying this fight any longer."

"I have no point," Amaranth admitted. "To be honest, I was just stalling. But now that I'm done…"

Amaranth smiled and at that point, Light noticed the flowers on her head were black when they're normally pink. That was all he got to see, though, as Amaranth's back glowed before a bright light filled the entire glade. Light could feel massive amounts of energy pour from her, more powerful than Fennix's Solarbeam. He knew, if you weren't on Amaranth's side, you would be blown back now with tons of force.

And, once the gleam disappeared, Light saw that to be true. What was once a sea of enemies behind them was stemmed down to less than 10 still standing, though blown far back. What was once a proud standing greninja was knocked into a tree and kneeling on the ground. And what was once a charred battleground was teaming with life and flowers again. Whatever just happened, it was powerful to be sure.

"W-what in the heck are you?!" Gheb asked Amaranth.

"I'm a Mythical Pokémon, idiot," the shaymin scoffed. "All shaymin can use the power of Seed Flare. An experienced shaymin can use it normally, but the rest of us just need to absorb enough impurities. And luckily, enough flames caused enough smoke for me to do that. Too bad for you."

The greninja growled and tried to stand up despite all the pain. "Don't…think you've won. We're the Blood Moon Bandits. We can't lose."

However, a blue tail slammed into the greninja's stomach, knocking him out. Light's eyes immediately glanced to the greninja's left to see where the tail came from. And there, just coming out of the trees, was quagsire with a large group of around twenty Pokémon. The police had arrived.

"Quagsire?!" Vivi and Selena asked.

"It seems, hmm, that we came just in time."

The group of police ran past the seven Pokémon straight at the remaining members of the Blood Moon Bandits. They were all quickly taken out can captured thanks to the previous damage they took in the fight. While they were doing that, Vivi and Selena both had their eyes wide and jaws open from the events, but Light and Fennix just smiled.

Light reached into his scarf one more time, this time to pull out his Expedition Gadget. "Thanks Chief…it worked."

With that, and with the adrenaline that was rushing through him wearing off, Light nearly collapsed, but Fennix quickly rushed to his left side, giving him someone to lean on. Light took a few deep breaths to calm his heart rate, but no matter what he did, he still felt extremely lightheaded and numb. Still, he was happy that it was finally over.

"What happened?" Vivi glanced around as the outlaws were all captured and carted off in droves by the various Pokémon that came to their aid.

Amaranth, on the other hand, gave Light a smirk. "So that's what you were up to kid. Not bad."

With Fennix's help, Light turned over to face Vivi and Selena, holding his Expedition Device out in his right paw. "When we first met the Blood Moon Bandits, Amaranth accidentally tipped Ampharos off to their location thanks to the fact that we were just talking to him and she didn't turn hers off. Obviously, we couldn't just pull our gadgets out and do the same, but I always keep mine in my scarf. So I turned it on when we first got ambushed by them and Ampharos heard the entire thing. All we needed to do was wait for him to contact the authorities and wait for them to get here."

"And what if we were knocked out first?" Selena asked. "I'm amazed we actually made it through that, to be honest. What made you so sure they wouldn't knock us out before the authorities came?"

"Gheb isn't like that," Light answered. "Haven't you noticed? He wants to watch us lose hope. He enjoys crushing all chances we have until we actually submit to him. It's how he works. So, as long as we kept fighting, we'd eventually win. Because he wouldn't let us lose consciousness until we finally submitted to him."

Amaranth chuckled as Light placed the device back into his scarf. "Not bad, kid. That was some quick thinking on your part."

By that point, Quagsire had joined them while the rest of the police cleaned up the area. Vivi and Selena both recognized him, confirming Light's earlier question of whether they met before. They also looked at him guiltily. At that point, Light remembered an important fact. Ampharos heard everything that was spoken in his gadget. Including that Selena and Vivi were once part of the Blood Moon Bandits.

"So…I guess now you know." Vivi's breath was shaky as he spoke and he was rather soft, to the point where Light had to perk his ears to hear him.

"I always, hmm, suspected it," Quagsire admitted. "My contacts tipped me off on it."

Selena whispered, "And you let us run away, anyways?"

"I believe any outlaw deserves a second chance. I don't, hmm, regret it either. However…"

Amaranth stepped in between them before Quagsire could finish that sentence. "Sorry, but they're currently under Expedition Society custody. There's something that they're needed to do before they can go to jail."

Quagsire focused on the shaymin. "I know. A little girl needs their help now. Am I, hmm, correct?" Quagsire walked over to Light and placed an orb in his right paw. "Use this to go back to Noe Town."

"Thanks."

With that, Quagsire turned around and left with the last remaining members of the police, leaving only the seven Pokémon left in the destroyed glade. Light took a glance at Espurr, who's face was as unreadable as possible. The pikachu didn't like seeing that, but there was nothing they could do at the moment.

"S-so…what now?" Espurr asked.

Amaranth stepped forward, and Light noticed that they just happened to be circling around her. The shaymin focused on Espurr but spoke to everybody. "Well, we've found Espurr's parents. But as of right now, Espurr needs to calm down a bit before we start the operation. Her mind and body are both likely still fatigued after what we just went through. Espurr, I'll give you the choice. We can either do the operation in Noe Town, or we can go all the way back to Serene Village and operate on you there."

Espurr gazed at the floor. "I…want to do it in Serene Village," she somberly stated. "Honestly…I just want to go back home as soon as possible right now."

"Understandable." Amaranth turned her attention from Espurr to her parents, her face turning to a scowl as she did so. "You two are coming with us."

Selena crossed her arms and met Amaranth's scowl with one of her own. "Does that really need to be said?"

Amaranth closed her eyes and turned away. "Just making sure you don't run off," she dismissed. "There are still plenty of police around to hunt you done if you try to."

Vivi turned his gaze towards his daughter. "No…we made a terrible mistake we need to fix. We're not going anywhere."

Amaranth answered by scoffing, her disbelief evident to everyone in the area, but she said nothing else on the subject. Still, for a second Light also glanced at Espurr's parents, also questioning how much these former outlaws could be trusted. However, he didn't need to look for more than a second to be certain. Vivi seemed to almost want to reach out and comfort his daughter at the moment but kept his arm to his side due to the distance the years created between them. That expression, how his right arm twitched, suggested to Light that he, at least, could be trusted.

"You guys go on ahead without me," Buizel mentioned. "The police will need somebody's testimony when they try those bandits. I can't say I'm the best Pokémon for that, but I'd bet the rest of you want to be with your friend. So I'll stick around to make sure these guys are put away for a long time."

Light nodded and smiled. "Thanks, Buizel."

With that, Light stopped leaning on Fennix and stood in the middle of the group. The remaining 5 Pokémon all surrounded him before Light lifted up the orb. A light shone around them and the six of them warped out of there and back to Noe Town, their mission finally accomplished.

* * *

 **AN:** This was a very experimental chapter, in case you couldn't tell. Most of the fights I've written have been against single opponents, or a group that isn't too large. This is my first time writing a fight against numerous amounts of opponents. So I debated for a while on what I wanted to do with this chapter. Initially I tried to think of a way out of having a large scale fight like this one. But, aside from not really being able to think of a way, I also wanted to figure out for myself how to write larger scale battles in case I needed to for the future.

As such, none of the enemy Pokemon aside from the Blood Moon Bandit's leader were named, since I felt that just listing off random Pokemon names was pointless for characters that get all of one second of screentime. Instead, I focused on what attacks were being fired, where they were being shot at, how Light and crew countered them, things like that. I wanted to get my readers in the flow of the fight without necessarily naming off semi-random Pokemon names. Whether I succeeded or not, I'll leave it for you to decide. But it made for one of the longest chapters I've ever written, if nothing else.

Special thanks to TheGoldCrow for beta reading


	17. One Last Farewell

The Lapras ride back was a restful one, or at least Light felt it was. His head still felt light and his body numb, but Fennix, Espurr, and him were all sitting very close together, Fennix and Espurr lying down to his left and right respectively. Espurr was fast asleep, while Fennix was almost there herself. It was quite the juxtaposition from being in the heat of battle to riding Lapras listening to calming sounds of the ocean with the occasional cry of Wingull overhead. Light had to admit, he didn't have much of a reason to stay awake himself, but something compelled him to do so.

"Mmm…Light?" Fennix moaned.

"Yeah?" Light answered.

"When do you think…we're getting home?"

Light glanced over at the dark blue horizon with it's reflection rippling on the surface of the water, night well on its way. There was nothing around in the ocean, aside from an island or two off in the distance. No matter how hard he looked, Light couldn't see any indication of the Water Continent within his vision.

"I think we're still a ways away," Light answered her. "We'll probably be home by tomorrow afternoon. Until then, we should just rest." Light glanced to his left at Espurr, seeing her sleeping soundly. "At least she's fast asleep."

"I'm more disappointed than anything." Light turned his gaze upwards to see Amaranth staring back down at him. "There was something I was hoping her to do. But I guess she'll have to do it in Serene Village."

"Something you wanted her to do?" Light asked. "What do you mean?"

Amaranth shook her head. "You'll need to ask her. That question is hers to answer."

Light glanced over at Espurr once again, wondering what secrets she was keeping between herself and Amaranth. "Alright, I guess. We'll just have to talk later, then."

"Just one question before I go back to talking with Espurr's parents." Amaranth had no expression of humor or sarcasm on her face, she was completely serious. "Are you ready?"

Light had an inkling as to the true meaning of Amaranth's question, but he refused to let the thought linger for more than a few seconds. They had found Espurr's parents. That's what they needed to do to cure her. Light believed that to be true, so Amaranth must have been asking about something else. "Ready for what?"

"I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised," she mumbled. "I guess, in a way, this is my fault. This should have been tackled a long time ago. And I should have forced it."

"What are you talking about?" Light asked, tilting his head in confusion.

Amaranth shook her head. "There'll be time for that later. For now, just make sure Espurr stays asleep. She needs a lot of rest for what she has to go through next."

"Yeah, I figured about as much," Light smiled. "Don't worry, I'll make sure she sleeps."

Amaranth sighed before going back to talking with Espurr's parents. Light watched her leave to the back of Lapras and wondered what she was so sad about. His mind refused to think of any other possibility aside from Espurr surviving now. After all they've been through, there was no possibility.

"What did…Amaranth want?" Fennix asked sleepily.

"I…have an idea," Light admitted. "But…that can't be. We're in the clear now, right? We found Espurr's parents, and that means Espurr will be fine. Right?"

"Yeahhh…" Fennix moaned, though if Light had any guess, the fennekin probably wasn't paying attention too much. Light decided to let go of his worries for now, anyways, and closed his eyes. It wasn't too much longer, listening to the sound of waves splash across the sea, when sleep caught up to Light.

"So how does it feel?"

Amaranth waited until she was sure that all three of the kids were asleep before posing this question. It had been on her mind the entire night, but she bided her time. She waited for the right opportunity. But soon, the three kids were fully asleep and weren't going to wake up anytime soon. As such, she could finally ask her question to the two adults.

"How does what feel?" Selena answered. They both glared at each other, which Amaranth found to be amusing. At least one of the two held some sort of backbone.

"How does it feel seeing your dying daughter find comfort in two strangers, rather then her own parents?" Amaranth nodded in the direction of the three kids, who were all sleeping side-by-side, Espurr in between Light and Fennix.

"What does it matter to you?" Selena growled.

Vivi, however, placed a paw on his wife's left shoulder to calm her done. He was the one who then spoke. "You don't like us, do you?"

Amaranth scoffed. "There are two types of Pokémon I hate. Outlaws and Pokémon who abandon their children. And congratulations, you happen to fit both of them. _I'm sure you're proud._ "

Vivi turned his head to face away. "I…we weren't given much of a choice. In either situation. Gheb would have had us killed if we didn't join the bandits. And if we stayed in Serene Village when we heard about him being in the area, who knows what he would have done to the place to get to us. We had no choice. And we certainly weren't taking her to be fugitives with us."

Vivi glanced at Espurr. "I imagine she had a much better life in Serene Village then anything we could have given her."

"Assuming she didn't die from Psychic Block immediately," Amaranth pointed out. "The moment you messed with her mind was the moment she became a time bomb. The fact that she's still alive now is extremely lucky. I can't overstate how much of a miracle it is that her head didn't explode before I got here."

Vivi sighed. "Yeah, we did really mess up on that one. I…didn't even think of the possibility that we could cause Psychic Block. I just…"

"We didn't really know who we could trust," Selena finished for him. "We knew the Blood Moon Bandits had spies everywhere in the Grass Continent. But we weren't sure if they had spies anywhere else. So we tried to avoid communication with too many people. And we wiped her mind of us in hopes that, if they did come to Serene Village, that they'd pass over her since she didn't know us."

"It was stupid, I'll admit it," Vivi sighed. "I regret doing it now, especially after…seeing the consequences. But…we panicked. We were terrified when we heard Gheb was in the area and we acted rashly. We wanted her to be safe and we wanted to get him out of the area as fast as possible."

"If you're looking for sympathy from me, you're not getting it." Amaranth gave them one more glare before turning her attention towards the three kids. "So, what about the items you left behind in your house? Why did you leave a picture of the Moonlit Forest along with those other items? Which lead us to a trap, by the way."

Vivi looked wistfully in the sky. "They were memorabilia from our time as Explorers. We kept them with us to remember the good times we had before Gheb. But when we heard he was in the area, we buried them in a hole and boarded up that area to keep others out. We never expected anyone would find it. Least of all, Espurr. We were hoping she wouldn't leave the village at all."

Amaranth chuckled. "Nothing much worked out for you, did it? Though, you have nobody to blame but yourselves in this instance."

Amaranth returned her gaze back to the two meowstic, glaring once again. "Let me make one thing perfectly clear. If you at any point in time try and sabotage Espurr's operation, if I or the nurse at Serene Village notice you try and hurt Espurr, there _will_ be hell to pay."

"You think we'd really do something like that?!" Selena yelled, her paws clenched and her ears opening slightly, as if she was about to use some sort of attack. "You'd think we'd really try and sabotage Espurr's operation! She is our daughter! We raised her for the first four years of her life! We only left her for her own good! We…!"

"Shh!" Amaranth glanced towards the kids. "Try not to wake those three, would you?"

"I…know you have no reason to trust us, but we do care for her," Vivi assured her. "Like Selena said, we tried to do our best for her in a bad situation. And we wanted to raise her like real parents. But..." Vivi sighed. "You're right. We're terrible parents. No matter how much we want to try and justify it, we're terrible parents. We were put in a terrible situation, but we were still terrible parents. You have every right to hate us. But…trust us. We will heal her, even if it's the last thing we do."

"You better, and that's all I have to say about it."

"Though…" Vivi caught Amaranth in the eye, "thanks for caring so much for our daughter."

Amaranth broke eye contact, facing towards the black waters instead. "It has nothing to do with that. It's my job to keep Light and Fennix healthy, both physically and mentally. That's what I'm paid for. Healing Espurr is just a part of that job."

Vivi gave a knowing smile. "Is it? Because I can see what you're thinking right now. I can tell that you're not admitting your true feelings."

Amaranth continued to refuse his gaze. "Good to know I need to work on my mental blocks. Perhaps I'm too tired as well. At any rate, we should all get plenty of rest. The operation will start tomorrow evening, when we reach Serene Village. It'll likely go throughout most of the night. You'll need to be ready for that."

Vivi nodded. "So get some sleep then. Alright, we will. Tomorrow will be a difficult day."

Vivi sat down against a pillar next to Selena. The female meowstic also sat down next to him, a frown from her anger still pasted on her face. However, Vivi rubbed Selena's back with his right paw and, after a while, her face softened, and she calmed down. The two of them smiled at each other before Vivi's right paw went to her shoulder and Selena's left paw wrapped to his left side. They pulled each other closer and cuddled there, closing both their eyes.

 _Don't think I my hatred for you means anything,_ Amaranth thought as they were fully asleep. _After all, no matter what you do, I'll still hate one Pokémon more then both of you combined._

It was later that night, when the moon was starting to wane, when Espurr woke up again. The first thing she noticed was that Light and Fennix were both fast asleep, the pikachu asleep with a smile on his face. The Psychic-type felt some heat reach her cheeks at the sight of the pikachu sleeping so close to her, but she ignored those thoughts for now. Now wasn't the time for those types of thoughts.

So Espurr faced Lapras's rear where she saw that both her parents were also asleep next to each other on the same pillar. That left the only Pokémon who was awake, aside from Espurr herself, was Amaranth. So Espurr walked across Lapras's back over to her.

"Amaranth?" Espurr asked to get the shaymin's attention. "Why are…you still up?"

The shaymin spoke without glancing back. "You should be asleep right now. You need the rest."

"S-sorry." Espurr shook her head. "But…back to my question. Why are you still awake?"

"It's…not easy for me to sleep." While Espurr could no longer read minds, she could sense the sadness in Amaranth's voice. "I've got too many horrible memories. Luckily, I'm a Mythical Pokémon, so I don't need nearly as much sleep as someone like you. I can survive several days without it. Besides, I can take care of myself. You should worry about you."

Espurr reached her left paw to clench her right arm. "You've…mentioned before that the reason for my Psychic Block is making things more difficult…right?"

"That's correct." Amaranth finally turned her attention back at the Psychic-type. "Normally, Psychica Mortem happens because of some sort of interference within the brain that prevents the Psychic-type from releasing the psychic energy they produce in their brain. It's rather easily fixed so long as the healers have a similar wavelength to the Pokémon in question. Yours is similar, in that there is something causing interference, however that something is heavy manipulation of your memories. And that's…a lot more difficult to treat."

Espurr almost didn't want to ask the next question. A part of her wanted to believe that everything would be fine, and that she would be healed soon and be able to continue with her life. But the psychic cat wasn't one for hiding the truth away, so after a brief pause, she asked it anyways. "How…difficult is it?"

"How deep have you delved into somebody's mind before?"

Espurr paused for a second at the suddenness of the subject change, but she answered the question anyways. "I…one time went deep into Light's head. It was…after something terrible happened and Light was unintelligible about it, so we…didn't know what exactly happened. So I had to go deep into…his mind to figure out exactly what happened. It was the only time I've ever done something like that before. I've…known about the consequences of doing it for a long time, though."

"And what are those consequences?"

Espurr gulped. "I-if you're not careful…and if the Pokémon who's mind your trying to read…resists at any point in time, it could really hurt them. Light didn't fight back…against me, so I was able to do it just fine, but it was…really risky to do so."

"It's the same with you. In order to fix your Psychic Block, your parents will have to delve deep into your memory and fix the damage they caused there. Problem is exactly what you just said, it's dangerous to delve into the mind like this. If you get scared at any point in the procedure and try and block them out, you're dead. And they're going to be running through your memories. It's likely going to hurt and be scary."

"I-I'll be fine." Espurr said that more to convince herself then than anything else.

"That sadly remains to be seen." Amaranth sighed. "I don't mean to doubt you. But I don't want to give you false hope either. There is a very possible chance that you could die during the procedure."

"Oh." Espurr clutched her right arm even harder and she shivered slightly, not because of how cold the night was.

"Don't give me that 'oh.'" Amaranth turned back to glare at the psychic cat. "You haven't told your friends how scared you are yet, have you?"

Espurr shivered even harder at Amaranth's icy glare. "I…no. I asked Light if we could talk later, but…later hasn't happened yet."

"Tell me, if you were to die now, how do you think those two would take it? Light believes 100% that, because we found your parents, you're going to be healed. He refuses to accept any other possibility. Fennix too. They're both determined to save you, both believe so much that they will, that neither of them has even thought of what will happen should this fail."

"S-sorry."

Amaranth shook her head. "It's not entirely your fault. I should have pushed harder to have this conversation be done. And I suppose, in some ways, it's almost better that this conversation happens now. But it needs to happen."

"So…what do you want me to do?"

"Once we reach Serene Village, we'll escort you to the school's infirmary where we'll be doing the procedure. I'm going to make sure that absolutely nobody follows us into the school unless they're staff or Light and Fennix. It's there, when you're mostly alone, that I want you to talk to them. Got it?"

"O…okay," Espurr hesitated. "I…I'll do it."

"They need this as much as you need this," Amaranth assured her. "Because once you enter the school's infirmary, this could be the last that they see of you, and you see of them. You three need to understand and accept that possibility. You need this closure."

Espurr knew that the shaymin was right, even if she desperately didn't want to have that talk with them. She could feel it in almost every shiver of her nerves, every pulse of her heart. She wasn't ready for what lies beyond those cold doors of the school. She knew that for a fact. And Light and Fennix were the only two Pokémon she truly trusted to understand and help her through that. Those two…

"I understand. And…I will do it. I promise."

Amaranth smiled. "Good. Now go back to sleep. You'll need all the rest you can get."

Before Espurr did that, though, she had one last thing to say to the shaymin. "T-thanks for being…honest with me this entire time. From when I first woke up…to now, you've never sugarcoated anything. It…might've been tough for me sometimes…but I'm glad you told me the truth."

"I'm blunt. That's who I am. There's nothing to thank me for."

"Still…" Espurr bowed. "I'm glad…you were the one to be my doctor. I'm glad…even if it was for a short while, I got to know you."

Amaranth just shook her head. "Just go to sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a difficult day."

Espurr hoped for something a little more from the shaymin doctor, but she accepted leaving things off here. So the Psychic-type walked back to where Light and Fennix were sleeping and once again took her place to Light's left. She had half a mind to squeeze in between both the pikachu and fennekin to snuggle with both of them, feeling the warmth of their contact spreading through her body, but she resisted that temptation. She told herself it wouldn't have been right. But, as she laid next to Lapras's neck and closed her eyes, her heart did feel a pang of sorry. A part of her wished that she had more time to spend with the both of them and that she also spent more time in the past. But instead, she had to prepare to say goodbye to them, for possibly the last time.

As Light guessed, it was the afternoon when they finally reached the lake in Serene Village. Light could see the sun starting to fall when they saw the village on the horizon and it was halfway down when they hit the lake. For the most part, since morning hit, Light and Fennix were just relaxing while Amaranth and Espurr's parents still went over the operation together. As for Espurr, she was awake for the most part, her eyes focused on nothing in particular off into the distance. Light wasn't sure what was on her mind, as her face was unreadable again, but he hoped it was nothing serious.

Of course, once they landed in Serene Village's square, they got the attention of pretty much everybody who was there, including all of their friends. Light wanted to say "hi" and chat with all of them, but Amaranth pretty much shooed everyone away. The pikachu didn't entirely blame her, as they did need to move for Espurr's sake, but he was hoping for a more lighthearted conversation for a change of pace.

So the large group quickly made their way across the village and up to where they started, the school building. Once they reached there, Espurr's parents went on ahead towards the infirmary to set up. Amaranth stayed behind a little while Espurr walked along with Light and Fennix. They kept going until they reached the point right in front of the infirmary. There, Amaranth caught Espurr's eye and the two nodded at each other. Light gave the two a questioning glance before he saw Espurr walk out in front of them and turn around. The pikachu and fennekin stopped as Espurr did, curious as to what she wanted.

"…L-light…Fennix?" Espurr sighed and her sorrowful expression made Light's heart drop. "I…need to tell you something. A-actually, I've needed to tell you for a while now."

"Espurr?" Light asked.

The little girl's head tilted to floor, and Light saw her tremble. "I'm…terrified."

"Terrified of what?" Light asked. "We found your parents. It's over. All they need to do is heal you and…"

Espurr shaking her head stopped his speech. "D-didn't you hear Amaranth? From before, when she was talking to us…before we entered the forest. She told us that my Psychic Block happened…thanks to my parents messing with my memories. And…going far enough into a Pokémon's mind to fix that is…dangerous. There's still a chance that I could…die."

For a moment, Light felt the world go dark. "B-but…we've gone through so much! We've gone so far. And y-you could still…?"

"Yeah…" Espurr mouthed. "I…could still. Sorry…"

"B-but…!" Fennix stuttered.

"Please…don't try and tell me I'm going to make it!" Espurr yelled desperately, her head lifted up once again and her eyes wide with terror. "Don't tell me…things will be fine! T-there's a very real chance that I could die right now! A-and I'm…and I'm scared."

Espurr dropped to her knees and teardrops began falling from her eyes. "This entire time…I've been scared. First I could die! Then…you guys could die! This entire time, any one of us could've…died! Even now, I still…could die! And I hate it! I hate it so much! I…I'm so scared!"

Overwhelmed didn't even begin to explain how Light felt. He had only seen Espurr break down and cry once before, during the Dark Matter incident when the entire village was turned to stone. And even then, this was the first time he saw Espurr so sad and terrified. Espurr, the normally stoic Pokémon, was breaking down right in front of him. The pikachu could only stare at her, completely and totally stunned.

"W-what's going to happen?" Espurr asked between sobs. "I-if I die…what will happen? Will I become a ghost? Will I go somewhere? …W-will I just…no longer exist? I…don't know! And I'm…I'm so scared! I don't want to die!"

Light wasn't sure what exactly compelled him to do what he did. He didn't think to do it, he didn't plan to do it. He just acted. But the next thing the pikachu knew, he had his arms wrapped around Espurr, pulling her into a hug. And from his eyes, his own tears fell, wetting his cheeks and dripping on Espurr's head.

"I…I'm scared too," Light admitted, letting everything go. "I…I thought I lost Fennix once. And it was the worst feeling I've ever felt in my life. Everything felt so dark, so cold, so lifeless. I…I don't want to actually lose anyone. I don't want you to die either."

Out of the corner of his eye, Light saw Fennix approach Espurr as well, placing her head over Espurr's other shoulder. "I don't want you to die, either!" Fennix yelled. "I…I've always wanted to get to know you better! I've always wanted to be your friend! I've always wanted you to join us in the Expedition Society because it'd be really fun exploring with you! S-so I don't want you to die either!"

"I…I would have liked to join you two as well," Espurr admitted. "I-it was fun those times we went out exploring. Frankly, I would have liked to do anything to help you. B-but now…"

The three Pokémon all fell into blubbering sobs, with not a coherent word among them. Light had to admit, there was nothing he really could say. Light never even thought of death before, and this entire journey he was only focused on curing Espurr. Nothing else mattered, certainly not the thought that Espurr could die despite everything. He had no answers for the psychic cat because of that, and there was nothing he could really say. And the pikachu hated that.

Light eventually managed to say the first coherent word. "I'm sorry, Espurr. I wish…I wish I could help you more. B-but I really don't know."

"B-but we promise," Fennix blubbered next. "E-e-even if we lose you, we won't forget you. We'll remember you, even years later. A-and when we're out exploring, we'll remember everything! I'll make sure to write it all down in my diary. S-so that way, when we join you, we'll tell you all about our adventures! And then we can have new adventures! W-we promise."

Light felt Espurr move away, so he removed his paws from around her to allow her to back up. When she did, Espurr glanced at Light. "R-really? Y-you…really mean that?"

"O-of course," Light said. "I promise too. I won't forget you either. And I'll be sure to tell you all about it. But…still, please. I know you can't really control it, but please don't die."

"I…don't think I can make any promises…" But Espurr clenched her paws together and gave the two a determined expression, one similar to Fennix's. "But…I won't give up at least."

Fennix smiled wide through her tears. "Thanks Espurr…'cause I don't want to wait that long to have adventures with you."

Light nodded in agreement. "I don't want to wait that long, either."

Espurr turned around and Light glanced over her shoulder to see Amaranth was watching them with a waiting expression. "It's…time isn't it?" Espurr asked.

"If you're ready, then yes, it is," Amaranth said. "Are you ready?"

Espurr closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm still…scared," she admitted.

Amaranth scoffed. "Of course you are. You're a young girl about to go into a dangerous operation. You have no reason not to be scared. That wasn't my question, and I'm not dumb enough to ask it. My question was: are you ready?"

Espurr looked back at Light and Fennix. Light wasn't entirely sure what she wanted to see out of them, and he couldn't really stem the tears flowing down his face, but Light smiled at her anyways. And, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Fennix smile as well.

Espurr glanced at Amaranth. "I just…want to do one more thing first."

Espurr's eyes locked on Light first. She clenched her paws together and used the last of her strength to speak without pausing from the pain. "Light, you're the kindest Pokémon I've ever met. You're so kind and caring, even to Pokémon you don't have a reason to. But, even after all that, you still treated me like an equal. To some, I'm a creepy kid. To others, just that smart kid that acts like an adult. To the adults, I'm someone who needs to be coddled. But you always treated me like you would treat anyone else. And I'm glad you did that. You're the Pokémon who I've always felt the most open with. I've always felt I can be truly myself around you. And that was such a freeing feeling."

Espurr's gaze went to the fennekin next. "Fennix, I wish I got to really know you before. I was always jealous that you had Carracosta while I had nobody. But, I think if I actually got to know you, I would have gotten to know somebody who truly understood me. And I would have met the most passionate Pokémon in the world. I've heard Light think of how energetic he feels around you hundreds of times and now I know how true that is."

"Light. Fennix. I really wish I got to know you more before all this. I wish we had more time to get to know each other. And maybe we will. I hope we will. But, if not, I want you two to know something. In the brief time I've known both of you, you two have made my life so much better. I'm glad I met you. Glad I got to be your friend."

Espurr bowed and, when she lifted her head back up, she had a smile on her face despite the tears running down her eyes. "Goodbye Light and Fennix. Whether in this life or the next, I hope I get to meet the two of you again. Maybe then, I can give you two back all that you've given to me."

And with that, Espurr turned around to follow Amaranth into the school infirmary. It wasn't long before she disappeared behind the door, closed off from the rest of the world. And all Light could do was stand there, the memory of the smile on her face burned into his face. Burned into his memory. What could very well be the last memory he will ever have of the young girl known as Espurr.

* * *

 **AN:** Beta read by TheGoldCrow


	18. The Longest Night

Light and Fennix both remained at that spot in front of the school's infirmary for a long time. They understandably weren't allowed in during the procedure, Light wasn't entirely sure he wanted to go in anyways, but they didn't want to leave either. Espurr was right in there, going through a dangerous operation.

However, the afternoon turned to late evening rather quickly and night was about to fall over Serene Village. As such Carracosta eventually came and took the two kids to his house. Though both were reluctant to leave, Light had to admit that waiting there wasn't doing anything anyways. So they both followed the Water/Rock-type home.

There, Carracosta already had a meal ready for them, but neither Light nor Fennix really ate much. Light didn't feel hungry at all and, if he had any guess, Fennix felt the same. He ate, but he didn't really taste anything nor did he feel like he was filling himself up. Light just consumed the food to be polite.

"S-sorry Pops," Fennix apologized after what felt like an hour of futile eating. "G-guess I'm just not hungry today."

Carracosta walked around the table to Fennix's side, placing a flipper on her shoulder. "You have done all you can for Espurr. It's all up to her now."

"I…I know Pops," Fennix sniffled. "But…"

"It isn't easy, I know. It's difficult, having a friend in the hospital, unsure of whether they'll live or not. But I know you'll make it through this." Carracosta glanced towards Light. "The both of you."

"I…yeah," Light breathed. "We'll make it through. A-and Espurr will too. We just have to  
believe in her."

"Good. Now, I'd recommend the two of you get some rest. Tomorrow might be a very  
turbulent day. You'll need the sleep."

Light looked guilty at his still full plate, but he couldn't really eat much else. "Y-yeah,  
we will."

So Light and Fennix both walked away from the table to the left side of the house, where Fennix's room was. Normally, Light would be heading to Nuzleaf's house to sleep at this time, but it was accepted without any words that the two kids should be there to comfort each other during this turbulent night. So Fennix pulled out the spare bed and Light laid down on it on his back.

Of course, they were told to go to sleep, but as Light closed his eyes, he soon found that didn't work out so well. Light didn't feel tired at all, and no matter how hard he tried forcing himself to sleep, he couldn't do it. Light felt more awake than ever.

His body also shook and shivered that night. The house wasn't too cold, nor was it that cold outside either despite it being fall. But Light still shook like a leaf being blown by strong winds. And he couldn't get rid of the feeling in the pit of his stomach, one that made him feel like he was about to lose what little dinner he had.

"H-hey, Fennix, are you still awake?" Light asked to try and take his mind off of his feelings.

"Y-yeah," Fennix answered. Light turned his attention towards her. She was also lying down in her bed with her eyes closed, but by the sound of her voice, Light knew she was awake. It wasn't long before she opened her eyes up faced him.

Light sighed. "So…you can't sleep either, then."

Fennix shook her head. "I…wish I could. But…I just can't."

"Yeah. I just…keep thinking about Espurr. Do you think the operation has started yet? Are things going well?"

"I wish I knew," Fennix agreed. "I…want to know too."

"Well, I suppose I can help you with that."

Light glanced up from between his legs and saw that Amaranth was at the doorway to Fennix's room. The pikachu panicked upon seeing Amaranth looking down on him in a vulnerable position and immediately jumped to his feet. In the corner of his right eye, Light noticed that Fennix also got onto her four paws.

Fennix immediately bombarded the shaymin with questions upon seeing her. "How is Espurr? Is she okay? Is she alive? Is the operation going well?"

The shaymin shook her head, causing Light's heart to fall a little, but she quickly spoke up before Light could say anything. "The main operation hasn't even started yet. We've been prepping the patient and I've made sure Espurr's parents know everything they need to know. Right now, we've brought her under and they should've started the procedure now."

"Put her…under?" Fennix asked.

"Medical terminology," Amaranth explained. "Basically, we knocked Espurr out using a drink made from slightly more potent Sleep Seeds. Right now, she's unconscious."

"How long will the operation last?" Light asked.

Amaranth rolled her eyes and continued. "Honestly, I don't entirely know. It'll last as long as it needs to. Both of them are going slow to make sure things go well." The shaymin closed her eyes and sighed. "I intended on being a part of the operation myself, if only to keep an eye on things, but Nurse Audino wouldn't have it. She wanted to help while I rested. I imagine it's because she's felt useless as a nurse this entire time, so she wants to do everything she can for Espurr herself. So long as someone is keeping an eye on Espurr's parents, there's not really a reason for me to be there anyways."

Light's face fell slightly. "I…understand."

"So, are you two ready?" Amaranth asked.

Light caught eyes with shaymin once again. "Ready? What do you mean?"

"You're…talking about what I think you are, right?" Fennix asked. Light quickly glanced at her,  
seeing her nose point to the floor.

"Yes, I am." Amaranth caught both of the children in the eye. "Are you ready for the possibility that Espurr might die?"

Light took a step back at what she said. "I…I…" He glanced at Fennix and saw that the fennekin was motionless, wallowing in sadness. Eventually, the pikachu closed his eyes and confessed. "No…I'm not ready."

"Of course you aren't," Amaranth said.

"What?!" both Light and Fennix asked at the same time.

"If you were completely okay with Espurr dying, then I would be seriously worried for the two of you," Amaranth shrugged, her voice the completely opposite of worried. "You both are young. Really young. It's hard to really accept the concept of death when you're someone as young as you."

"Then why did you ask?!" Fennix yelled. "Do you just want us to feel bad?"

Amaranth turned to stare at the night sky out of Fennix's south window. "Believe it or not, but no, I don't. Whether you're miserable, whether you hate me, none if it frankly matters to me. I honestly couldn't care less."

Light paused for a few seconds, his eyes locked the shaymin. "I…don't think you're entirely uncaring, though," the pikachu mentioned. "You're the one that convinced her to talk with us, aren't you?"

Amaranth still kept her eyes away from the two kids. "What makes you so sure that was  
me?"

Light stepped forward. "Because I know Espurr. She's not really the type to admit what she's feeling. It usually takes something strong to get her to cry like that. I've…only ever seen her cry once before, and that was when the entire world was at stake. So…I imagine you pushed her to talk to us, right?"

Amaranth paused for a moment before speaking. "…When my family started dying, I was just like you. I refused to accept the possibility of them dying. I'm the eternal flower. I'll live for thousands of years. But most Pokémon are lucky to reach a hundred. Only certain species can live that long. And my family was not one of them."

"What was your family, anyways, if they weren't other shaymin?" Fennix asked.

Amaranth glared at her and growled. "None of your business."

Fennix took a step back. "Geeze. You could have just said so."

Amaranth glanced away. "Sorry. It's…a sore spot in my life."

Amaranth shook her head. "Anyways, I tried my hardest to help them. I tried my hardest to save him. I found whatever medicine I could, I made sure he had doctors around him at all times, I did whatever I could think of to save him."

"Him?" Light mumbled, realizing that the shaymin went from 'them' to 'him.'

Amaranth shook her head, and Light noticed a surprising amount of sorrow on her face. "But he was old. Far beyond what most of his species is. So it all didn't matter in the end. He died despite all of my work. All my hard work was wasted. I was…devastated."

Amaranth shook a bit as she continued. "I couldn't believe it. I couldn't accept it. I was forced to remember my immortality and their mortality, and it was…a painful reminder. That day when he died…was probably the beginning of my path downward. The path that got me into jail in the first place."

"And you thought that might happen to us?" Light asked.

"Did I?" Amaranth shook her head. "No. You two are too nice, to naïve. I can't imagine you going down the same path I went. But you're also young. Death is a difficult thing to really understand or accept and if it happened, and I wanted the two of you to know it's possible. Even after everything that happened, after all you've done, Espurr could very easily die. Knowing that, it'll be easier for you two if it does happen. You'll be able to heal easier in that case."

Light rubbed the back of his head. "That's…not exactly the most pleasant thought."

"It never is." Amaranth turned to the two kids again. "You also helped Espurr a lot, too. Knowing that there were those who cared for her so much, those that really want to see her pull through, and are willing to write a journal for her about all your adventures if she doesn't, has really lifted her spirits. The smile she gave you continued up until we knocked her out. She's scared, but she's ready."

"That's good to know, at least," Fennix said.

Amaranth turned around and walked to the door. "Whether she survives or not still remains to be seen, though. But as of right now, we've both done all we can. All we can do now is rest up. Tomorrow, we'll learn our answer.

The shaymin was about to leave, but Fennix called out to her. "Wait!"

Amaranth turned once again to look at Fennix, curious as to what the fennekin wanted. "I…I just wanted to say…I think you do care about Espurr, even if you don't want to admit it." Fennix stepped forward a bit. "So…I'm sorry for saying that you didn't care all those times. And I'm sorry for being mad at you, all this time."

Amaranth smirked. "You know, you're lucky kid. In a way I envy you, really. You got the chance to be reborn from a Mythical Pokémon to a normal one. No matter how many losses you have, you'll never have as many as me. You can live a full life with the rest of your friends. You can grow old with them. You don't have to worry about outliving them for centuries. You don't have to worry about the curse of immortality. You're so worried about being Mew, being a Mythical Pokémon. Trust me, it's not all it's cracked up to be."

Amaranth turned around to the doorway once again. "Do I really care for Espurr? …To be honest, I don't want to. Say she survives this sickness; she'll die within a century anyways while I'll be alive for thousands of years. In all honestly, today or then I'll have only known her for a small fragment of time. That's the consequence of immorality."

"But…I suppose in a way, I have grown to care about her, just a little. Just enough…that I'd rather not see her perish either. But if she does…she does. And it wouldn't surprise me."

And with that, Amaranth left the room and likely the house. Light and Fennix both stood there for a few seconds to process everything Amaranth said. Light eventually tilted his head in the direction the shaymin left.

"You know…I think she really does care," Light whispered, his breath taken away from him. "No matter how much she doesn't want to admit it."

Fennix nodded. "I kinda think so too. I just wish she didn't constantly try acting like she doesn't. You'd think acting like she cares would be better than not acting like it."

"Still…" Light took a deep breath. "Sounds like they're just starting with Espurr's operation. Which means they're probably going to take all night. We should…really try sleeping, since we won't learn whether she made it or not until tomorrow."

"Y-yeah, we should."

However, they both still stood in their spots, even after they agreed to go to sleep. The silence from Amaranth's departure allowed the fear of Espurr's possible demise to settle in once again, and Light almost shook with fear. He noticed Fennix's head was pointing to the floor again as well.

"Ugg…I wish I didn't feel like this," Light eventually groaned. "I wish I wasn't so scared. I…I know I should believe that Espurr will be fine. And I know…that we'll meet again one day even if she…doesn't. But I'm still scared about it."

"I…am too," Fennix admitted. "I mean…I guess we really should be. If we weren't…that means we wouldn't really care about her. But it kinda sucks. It really sucks."

Light clutched his right arm with his left paw. "Y-yeah, but we need to sleep. S-so let's try and get some sleep, okay? Even if we're not tired."

"Y-yeah, we should try," Fennix said.

Light walked back to his bed and laid down once more, this time on his right side. "N-night," he said.

However, once again, Light could not get to sleep no matter how hard he tried. This time he even tried tossing and turning again in hopes that it'd break his funk and let him fall asleep. He tried counting mareep, but that failed as soon as his thoughts went back to Espurr. Light tried daydreaming about something happier, but it never lasted long enough for him to sleep. Sleep just didn't happen for Light.

 _Ugg…it's no use,_ Light groaned in his mind. _I just…can't do it. Every time I try, I just keep thinking about Espurr and once that happens…_

Light heard sound of the brushing and moving of hay reach his ears, but he just thought Fennix was moving around in her own bed. That's what he thought, until he felt some fur brush across his back and a sudden comforting warmth wrap across his body. Light felt his face flush slightly as he realized exactly what the feeling was, but at this point, he didn't even mind. In fact, Light flipped onto his stomach and scooted over to the source of heat. To where Fennix was lying.

"T-thanks," Light whispered as he cuddled up with the fennekin.

"No problem," Fennix whispered back. "H-hey Light? I know you hate talking about this…and I kinda don't want to ask either but…what were you like when I was gone?"

Light felt a sharp pain in his heart at the question. It throbbed and pulsed through his body, causing his every motion to shake and shiver. Fennix, thanks to their close proximity, pressed closer to Light as if to help calm him down a bit. Light focused on the warmth and feeling of Fennix right next to him them the cold of the outside word and tried to calm down his shivering a bit.

"Sorry. If you don't want to talk about it, then…"

"I don't remember much at first," Light interrupted, his voice suddenly bursting out. "After I saw you fly away in that light, I collapsed. And that's all I can remember for a while. According to E…according to what I've heard, I was incoherent for a while, barely ate, barely slept, barely did anything. I was just holed up in Carracosta's house for a while. Then one day, I started working for the Expedition Society again without a word. That's…what I was told anyways."

Light shook his head. "Honestly, the first thing I remember after collapsing was just coming home from working a rescue job. I can't even remember who I rescued either. All I remember is coming home, covered in bruises and cuts all over, and getting help from Dedenne and Jirachi to heal those bruises."

"Bruises and cuts?! But aren't you the one who's always working on making sure we're healed?"

Light shook his head. "That's something I remember a lot better. I…couldn't be bothered to dodge attacks like I used to. I let myself take hit after hit and didn't patch myself up afterwards. And when everyone wondered what was wrong, I just smiled and pretended everything was fine."

Fennix was silent for a few seconds, so Light continued. "Everything felt so broken and dull at that time. The world was at peace and everyone else was happy, but I didn't feel anything except for a cold ache. I eventually stopped talking to other Pokémon in Lively Town because they were either so happy, or the asked about you, and it hurt either way. I kept going because I knew you wanted me to, but I didn't enjoy what I was doing. I don't think I could enjoy anything."

"Do you think…that would've continued if Chief didn't come up with some sort of plan to bring me back?"

"I…don't know. I'd hope not, but…" Light shook his head. "I don't want to go back there, though. I know that much. I'd do anything to avoid going back to that."

Fennix rubbed her tail across Light's back. "I'd…hate to end up like that too. But at least this time, we both have something you didn't have back then."

"Y-yeah, that's true."

 _This time…come what may, I hope that doesn't happen to us,_ Light thought as he slowly drifted out of consciousness. _Espurr…I hope you make it._

So, with the two scared children coming together, feeling the warmth from his best friend, Light was finally able to fall asleep. It was a warm comforting sleep, one where Light had no worry of any nightmares. The two of them were able to help each other out through this dark night, through the fear of their friend possibly dying.

Light wasn't sure how long that night lasted. He wasn't entirely sure when he even fell asleep, or if he even. The only thing he was completely sure of, was that he woke up as soon as the sunlight of the next morning hit his eyes. He was groggy at first when he woke up, but soon Light remembered exactly what happened yesterday.

"Oh, yeah, Espurr!" Light yelled as he immediately got up.

Whether it was through his voice or through him breaking their cuddle, Fennix also soon woke up. She groggily glanced up to Light at first, before remembering something. And she immediately stood up as well.

"Light, let's head to the school right away!" Fennix quickly suggested.

"I was already planning on it."

So Light and Fennix quickly ran out of Carracosta's house without even seeing of the old turtle was out. They bounded down the hill outside the house before taking a left towards the town's square. Once there, they saw Amaranth also walking in the direction of the school. So the two kids walked up to her.

"Amaranth," Light called when they caught up to her. "You off to see Espurr?"

"No, I'm just taking a walk," Amaranth sassed. She shook her head. "Yes, I do plan on seeing Espurr survived. The operation should be over by this morning. We should know whether she lived or not by now."

"Y-yeah, we should." Light clutched his right arm with his left. "We just…gotta see."

Amaranth faced forward. "You might be scared now, but you're both willing to come up here and face this. That's a good thing. Show's your brave."

"She could sound a little more praising when she said that," Fennix mumbled. "Same old Amaranth, I guess."

"Well now, shall we?" Amaranth asked.

Light nodded and the three of them walked the northern pathway to the school. While they were walking, Light felt his heart beating fast and felt a weight in his chest. His nerves were screaming at him to stop, to no longer go forward, to stop himself before he got to far in. But Light ignore that instinct and kept going until they finally reached the schoolyard.

"Here we go," Amaranth mumbled.

Amaranth walked up to the school's infirmary and yelled into it. "Vivi?! Selena?! How's  
the patient?"

A few seconds later, the two meowstic came crawling out of the school building. They both had half-open eyes and their fur was ragged. Light tried to get some insight on what emotion they were feeling from their face, whether they were happy, satisfied, or more negative emotions, but he saw nothing but their fatigue. And it wasn't long after when the two meowstic fell to the ground inside the door's threshold to the infirmary, both of them fainting.

* * *

 **AN:** Yep, one more chapter before the final chapter. I wanted one chapter in between when Espurr goes off on her operation and the final chapter to really dig into the main character's emotions at the time. After all, during the operation is almost always worse then either before or after it, based on my experience. And I also wanted to give Amaranth one last chapter before the focus turns back to Espurr.

Beta read by TheGoldCrow


	19. Aftermath

"Vivi?!" Fennix yelled as she saw the two meowstic collapse. "Selena?!"

Light just stood there, stunned. Too stunned to move. Unable to go forward. Seeing those two collapse made his heart drop in his chest and all the courage he had to face the truth of whether Espurr was alive or not left him. He couldn't believe anything but the worst.

However, Amaranth was completely calm. Without worrying about anything at all, the shaymin walked past the two fainted cats and into the building. Light braced himself for when the shaymin would eventually come out with the news on Espurr's fate. It took a few seconds, but eventually a Pokémon did walk back out from the doorway. However, it wasn't the shaymin who came out. It was instead Nurse Audino, having a contented yet tired smile on her face.

"Light, Fennix, come in," she stated softly, in a comforting voice. "Everything is alright."

"W-wait…are you saying?" Light asked.

Audino nodded before walking back inside the infirmary. Light couldn't move for a few seconds. He felt so many overwhelming emotions that his nerves wouldn't listen to his commands. Fennix didn't have any problems with that, however, and immediately ran in. It wasn't more than a few seconds later when Fennix came bounding out, smile on her face.

"Light! Come in!" Fennix cheered.

Hearing Fennix's suggestion let Light finally put one foot in front of the other and walked his way over to his partner before they both entered the infirmary. There, Light saw Espurr once again. He was reminded of when he and Fennix first learned of Espurr's plight and entered the infirmary, as he saw Espurr lying on a bed surrounded by other Pokémon. However, this time, there was a major difference. One that was evident on Espurr's face immediately. Espurr was smiling as she slept soundly.

Light glanced at Amaranth, who was using Psychic to examine her mind. "I-Is she really…?"

Amaranth's eyes turned back to normal and caught Light's eye. "It looks like they did it. Espurr's Psychica Mortem has been finally cured."

Light breathed and nearly collapsed when he heard it. Espurr was going to be alright. Espurr was just fine. Espurr wasn't going to die anytime soon. Constantly thinking that cause Light's heart to thump and caused his breath to come out in a long sign of relief. Light found himself breathing easier for the first time in a week, something he didn't even notice until know. All he could once again do was stand there and smile, staring at Espurr.

Fennix, naturally, was much more vocal in her happiness.

"YES! Espurr's fine! Espurr's fine! Espurr's fine!" Fennix sang. The fire fox jumped towards Light, her forepaws landing on his shoulder. She jumped and danced around with Light, a large smile on her face and tears of happiness streaming from her eyes. Light himself was shocked at first that the fennekin was forcing him around, but he was too happy himself to stop her. "Espurr's fine!"

Amaranth rolled her eyes. "She's not entirely out of the woods yet. According to Audino, yesterday's operation took a toll on her. She is going to need a lot of rest and recovery."

"I don't care!" Fennix sang. She jumped off Light and landed back on the ground on all four of her paws. "So long as Espurr is fine, I don't care! Come on, Light, let's go tell everyone!"

What happened next was honestly a blur to Light. He knew Fennix took him around to cheerfully tell everyone about what happened, but Light didn't pay too much attention to who they told or when. His happiness blocked everything out and almost made him numb. It felt similar to the feeling after an adrenaline rush, but much happier.

The next thing he clearly remembered was later on in the afternoon. Light, Fennix, and the rest of the school kids were all waiting outside of the school's infirmary, chatting about insignificant stuff that Light was barely paying attention to. They were waiting out there for when Espurr finally woke up so they could meet with her again.

It took a while from what Light remembered, but eventually Amaranth came out of the door and glanced at all of the kids. "She's awake. You can visit with her now. Two at a time preferably. I don't want to overwhelm her. I'll let you guess which two are first." Amaranth turned around and left to go back inside.

"Geez, you guys had to deal with THAT all week?" Pancham asked.

"She's…certainly a character," Light admitted. "But she does care, even if she doesn't want to admit it. Anyways…"

Deerling nodded. "You guys go ahead. You've spent a week helping Espurr out, you guys deserve to see her first."

"Thanks."

So the two kids walked into the infirmary of once again, where this time Espurr was up and waiting for them, her eyes trained on her parents, who were still out from their treatment of her. Her face was a very tired face and her fur was completely disheveled, but Espurr otherwise looked just fine. Light found some hope in seeing her like this.

"Hey, Espurr," Light whispered as he walked closer. "How are you feeling?"

Espurr glanced up at them and smiled. "Hi Light. Fennix. I…feel like I survived a horde of tauros running over my head and am recovering from it. But otherwise, a lot better than I did before."

"That's great to hear!" Fennix cheered. "Can you 'see' again?"

"Sort of." Espurr levitated a clear glass of water towards her and drank from it. "Amaranth told me not to strain myself reading minds yet. But otherwise, yeah, I've got my Psychic powers back. You don't know how much of a relief it is to finally get them."

Light had something on his mind he wanted to ask, standing there rubbing the back of his head as he thought about it, before deciding to ask anyways. "You…don't have to answer this question but…what about the memories you got back? What do you…think about them?"

Espurr glanced at the ground. "I'd…rather not answer that, to be honest."

"That bad huh?"

Espurr quickly jerked her head back up and shook her head. "No, the memories themselves were actually rather pleasant. I'm just…not sure what to make of them. There's…a lot I need to think about."

"Well, don't hurt yourself too much," Light told her. "Your rest is much more important."

"I know, and I will," Espurr nodded.

"Still, we're glad to see you awake and better now!" Fennix cheered.

Espurr smiled too. "Yeah. I feel much better to."

Espurr closed her eyes and smiled. "Light…Fennix, thank you both so much for helping me. If it weren't for you two, I probably wouldn't be here right now. I owe you so much more than I can ever make up."

Light shook his head. "You don't owe us anything. We're friends, and we're happy to help."

"No, this is something I need to do." However, she stopped talking after that statement, not elaborating on exactly what she was planning on doing.

"Just make sure you don't do anything to strain yourself," Light told her. "You've still got a lot of recovery to go through."

"I know. But Amaranth did say that tomorrow I should be well enough to start walking around Serene Village again. So that'll be nice. Would you two mind joining me at that that time?"

Light nodded. "Of course not. We'd be happy to join you!"

* * *

As Light and Fennix promised, they took Espurr out into the town the next morning. Espurr was fine walking on her own, and Light and Fennix were there just in case she wasn't, but for some reason Amaranth came as well. She stayed behind them as they walked west through the town, but despite how far away she was, they could still feel her presence. It was a little awkward for the two members of Team Rebirth, but Espurr seemed completely comfortable with the shaymin around. As they were about to turn south and head to the hill with the big tree, Light asked her about it.

"You guys still aren't comfortable with her, even after all this time?" Espurr asked after Light expressed his inquiry.

Fennix chuckled nervously. "I mean, it's not that I hate her or anything. Not anymore, not after all we've gone through. And I don't think of her as some sort of suspicious outlaw or anything like that either. I think she's more then proved herself. It's just…"

Light turned his back at the shaymin quickly and saw her usual stern glance. "You kinda get the feeling that she only has bad news the way she looks all the time," Light admitted. "Like, I'm just waiting for her to say that something went wrong with your recovery or something like that."

Espurr shook her head. "She hasn't told me anything like that," Espurr confessed. "It'll take me a while before I'm back to normal, and she wants to keep an eye on me until then just in case, but I don't think she has any…" Espurr's voice trailed off and her face fell for a bit.

"…You know something, don't you?" Light asked.

Espurr sighed. "I…have a guess as to what she might say. Sorry."

No more words were spoken after that, and they continued up the hill to the tree in silence. Once there, Light and Fennix held back to allow Espurr to walk to the tree and take in the scenery of Serene Village alone. Light was perfectly content with that, as he was fine waiting there and taking in the fresh air and nice breeze that seemed to blow across the grass there.

"I suppose I should take this time to congratulate you," Amaranth's gravelly voice came from behind Light. Fennix and him both turned around to see the shaymin was closer than before.

"C-congratulate us?" Fennix asked.

"Yes, you got the second chance that I never will," Amaranth emotionlessly spoke.

Light gave her a confused glance and scratched the back of his head with his left paw, not sure how he should feel about that. "Uhh…sorry?"

Amaranth shrugged. "Don't bother with pity, I don't want or deserve it. You should be happy, not apologizing to me."

"W-well the way you phrased it…" Light stuttered, scratching the back of his head.

Amaranth glared at him, causing his words to die. "What I meant to say is; don't forget that life is cruel. You have her back now, but you could still lose her. Perhaps not anytime soon, but one day you might part. So enjoy your time with her and make use of this second chance."

"W-we will," Fennix promised.

Amaranth's eyes glazed past Light towards the Psychic-type up on the hill. "To be frank, I shouldn't really compare your situation to mine. He was old and was dying because of how old he was. She's young and full of life. It'd be a greater tragedy of she died over him. So I should apologize for comparing the two all the time."

Light continued nervously scratching. "It's…alright. By the sounds of things, it's still fresh in your mind. And you did say it was the start of your downfall. So I can kinda understand why you feel so strongly about it."

Amaranth shook her head. "Whatever. That's the past and it doesn't matter now. And I didn't come here to reminisce about it. Instead, I want to focus on the future. Specifically, Espurr's future."

"Espurr's…future?" Light asked.

Amaranth caught both the kids' eyes and her face became serious. "I'm going to be brutally honest here. I am the Expedition Society's doctor, not Serene Village's. And, while I was willing to help Espurr as much as I could, and the Chief accepted it, I have been gone for an entire week. It's about time I return back to Lively Town."

Light lowered his paw and, after a moment's hesitation, nodded. "I…suppose that makes sense. We should probably go back too. But what about Espurr? Will she be alright recovering over here?"

Amaranth turned her focus specifically on Light for a few seconds. "I was getting to that." She went back to her earlier position. "I also want to keep an eye on Espurr while she's recovering. And I think it's best for her if she goes to Lively Town with me. A change of scenery will help her a lot in the recovery process. I've talked with Espurr, and she's agreed to that. So tomorrow morning, we're both taking the trip to Lively Town."

"Tomorrow morning?!" Light and Fennix both blurted at the same time. "So soon?"

"You're right, I'd normally wait a bit longer before taking her half-way across the continent. However…" Amaranth glanced in the direction of Serene Village. "There's a…particular reason why I'm taking her now. That reason having to do with two Pokémon."

"Vivi and Selena?" Light asked perceptively. The two parents of Espurr recovered sometime between when he last saw Espurr and this morning, but beyond that he only saw a glimpse of them in town. "What about them? Do you think it's bad for Espurr to be in the place as them?"

"I suppose in a sense it is, but that's not entirely it." Amaranth sighed. "Guess I have to be blunt again here. Vivi and Selena have both confessed to being former members of the Blood Moon Bandits. Come tomorrow afternoon, the police will be coming for them to take them away. As the majority of their crimes happened on the Grass Continent, they will be transferred to the jail there. I've decided it's best Espurr isn't around when that happens."

"Oh…I forgot," Light admitted. In all the joy of seeing Espurr awake and well again, Light had completely forgotten that two former criminals were hanging out around Serene Village. Out of the corner of the eye, he saw Fennix's face fall as well. "Does…Espurr know?"

"She's suspected it, I guess. It's obvious that I'm moving her out a lot faster than usual. So I get the sense that she's figured it out. Whether she has or not, though, doesn't really matter to me. She's agreed to go, and that's all that matters."

Light sighed. "I…guess we leave tomorrow then."

Amaranth shook her head. "No, you two aren't coming,"

This caused both Light and Fennix to lift their heads up and gaze at the shaymin in wide-eyed shock. "What?!" Fennix yelled. "Why not?"

"Because you two, two children mind you, have been through a lot lately," Amaranth reminded them. "And you've been taking it well so far, but you're still a couple of kids. You have been through a hard time, had to deal with the mental strain of having a friend on death's door, had an entire outlaw group after you, and had to fight in one of the largest fight's you've ever had. You have been pushed to your physical and mental limits. As such, you are in no state to be doing anything. I'm ordering a three-day break for the two of you, starting from the time Espurr and I leave. For three days, I don't want to see either of you anywhere near the Expedition Society's HQ, got it?"

"I…" Light clutched his left arm with his right. His body trembled a little and he could tell that, even if he tried, he wouldn't really be able to fight in this state. A part of him wanted to still argue the point, especially as Espurr was going to be there as well, but as Light took stock of his own physical and mental state, he wondered if he could even make the trip.

Eventually, Light took a deep breath of acceptance. "You're right. I don't know about Fennix, but I'm feeling beat. It's been…such a whirlpool these last few days."

Out of the corner of his eye Light saw Fennix glance towards the ground. "I…guess you're right," she conceded. "I don't like it, but I guess you're right."

"In all honestly, I wanted it to be a week that you're on leave," Amaranth confessed. "However, The Chief convinced me that seeing Espurr fully recovered would do a lot of good for you. So I agreed to shorten it until three days. However, I do expect you to wait until then. I better not see you at the Expedition Society until then."

"I…understand." Light turned around, his eyes on Espurr.

"You don't exactly have to say farewell to her, but you won't be seeing each other for a few days. Be ready for that."

* * *

So Light and Fennix walked around with Espurr for the rest of the day with knowledge that they'd have to part for a few days. However, none of them really mentioned anything about it. Rather, they just made small talk for the rest of the day, ignoring the fact that they'd have to temporarily part tomorrow. Light found it to be nice, just talking like this, no worry of anybody's health.

However, the day soon passed to night and everyone needed to return home and rest. And night turned into day, the day that Espurr had to leave for Lively Town. Light and Fennix both woke up bright and early to go to the yellow arch at town square, waiting for when Espurr would leave. However, as soon as they got there, they already saw Espurr and Amaranth standing under the arch, with Vivi and Selena close by.

"W-what's going on?" Fennix panted as soon as they reached the rest of the group. "I-I mean we knew you were going to leave in the morning. But the sun is barely up!"

Amaranth rolled her eyes when she saw the two kids, but Light noticed her trying to hide a faint amused smirk. "So, you were right. They did make it here before we left."

Espurr's eyes were guilty and sorrowful, but she didn't break eye contact with them. "S-sorry, Light, Fennix. But I wanted to leave before too many Pokémon noticed. I know that, when you guys left for Lively Town, all of us came to see you off. But…I just…"

Light smiled, figuring that he understood her situation perfectly. "It's okay. You're only leaving for a few days to recover. So it's not like you really need to say goodbye to everyone. And it might be a little awkward too. We'll just tell them the reason you left and be done with it."

"Y-yeah, sure," Espurr stuttered with a nervous smile.

Amaranth turned her attention to Espurr's parents. "So, how did you two figure out we were leaving right now? I doubt anybody told you."

"We're not Espurr's parents for nothing," Selena pridefully confessed. "The pikachu over there was thinking about it at one time and I happened to read it from his mind."

Vivi blushed at how brashly his wife exclaimed that, and his right paw reached to scratch behind his ear. "S-sorry about that. We didn't mean to, honest, but we were curious. We…sort've figured that you were going to leave soon and we wanted to know."

"You…read my mind?" Light asked, a shiver being sent down his spine as he heard that. The pikachu never particularly liked the idea of Pokémon invading his mind, Espurr being a slight exception.

Espurr glanced up at her parents. "So…you two are going to jail tonight, aren't you?" the little girl inquired, her voice remaining as straight as possible despite the difficult subject.

Vivi couldn't catch Espurr's gaze, his paw lowering limply. "So…you know."

"I'm a smart girl, I can figure it out," Espurr stated in an almost condescending manner. Light could almost hear bitterness in her voice as she spoke. "We seemed to be moving a little fast for what I'd imagine is normal. There was only one reason I could think of for that."

"Yes, we turned ourselves in to the authorities," Selena calmly confessed. "For so many years, we've been running like common criminals. And it's caused us to make so many stupid mistakes. Cause so much damage, like with you. So we contacted the authorities and are going to jail tonight."

Amaranth scoffed. "That's for the best. While you're in custody of The Expedition Society, that can't last forever. Technically, you've already done exactly what we wanted from you. And you have a lot more to answer for outside of just what you did to her."

Vivi flinched. "We…know. That's why…we're doing this. That's why we wanted to learn when you were going to leave. We…wanted to see you one last time, Espurr, before we're separated. It's…possible we won't ever see each other again. So…" Vivi faced Light. "I'm sorry for reading your mind for this. But we had to know."

Light didn't know what to say and decided at this point in time that it wasn't his right to say anything. This conversation was between Espurr and her parents, and nobody else. So he stayed silent and waiting for the conversation to continue, only stepping in if needed.

Espurr, upon realizing Light wasn't talking, continued the conversation on her own. "Well…since you're here, I want to know. These memories that you gave me. They're all true, right? Including the last one?"

"…Yes, they are," Vivi admitted.

"So…I've never know the real you then," Espurr concluded.

"No, you haven't," Selena confessed.

"Even though we went there planning on settling down, we always knew that one day we might have to leave," Vivi admitted. "So…we prepared you for that day. That…was our main focus."

"What happened between these three?" Fennix whispered to Light, temporarily turning his attention away from the conversation in front of him.

The pikachu could only shake his head. "Honestly, I couldn't even begin to know. You'd know better then me, since you were here back then."

"Pops said I met them once, but even looking at them now, I can't remember," Fennix mused. "So I don't know either."

"Hmm…honestly, I think only those three know," Light concluded. "And I think it'll always stay that way. This is something personal between them and only them."

Espurr glanced away from her parents. "So, I've never known the true Vivi and Selena, then. My true parents."

"…I won't ask you to forgive us," Selena said. "What we did is unforgivable."

"Yes, it is." Espurr turned her gaze away from her parents, and Light noticed that from her angle and the way her eyes were facing, that she could see himself and Fennix out of the corner of her eye. "And I don't think I can forgive you two, Vivi, Selena. Or call you my mother and father. Not like this, anyways. You erased my memory, left me here without any parents, left me here alone. Made me different from all other children who had mothers and fathers. I can't just suddenly forgive that. Sorry."

Vivi and Selena caught each other's eye and nodded. "We understand," they both accepted at the same time.

"There is…one thing, though." Espurr focused back on Vivi and Selena. "I want a name. A family name."

"A…family name." Fennix whispered.

Amaranth tilted her head and her eyebrows furrowed. "Why in the world would you want such a pointless sentiment? A family name is only used within the family. And they're going to be in jail soon. There will be no one else to use it."

Light wanted to point out that, technically the statement wasn't true, as Fennix used the name Carracosta gave her, but he knew that Amaranth was right from a cultural standpoint.

"I know it's pointless," Espurr admitted. "But I don't care. I still want one."

Vivi and Selena looked at each other once more, and Light almost guessed that they were having some sort of telepathic conversation or something. They both nodded and walked up to Espurr. Both of the closed their eyes and whispered into both of her ears. After talking for a few seconds, they backed up again.

"…Thanks. Even if nobody else uses it, I'll remember it."

"We've been standing here long enough," Amaranth broke into the conversation. "If you want to leave before others notice, we should go now."

Espurr glanced at her. "You're right." She faced everyone else and bowed. "Goodbye everyone. Light, Fennix, I'll see you both in Lively Town soon. Vivi, Selena, this is goodbye."

With that, Espurr turned around to leave. Amaranth stayed behind a bit, though, turning to Vivi and Selena before she followed the kid. "Take it from someone who knows, you two. Jail is not the end. It's a chance to reflect on what you've done, how stupid you were in the past, and try and make a new life. It'll suck when you get there, and you deserve every second of it, but try to think ahead. If only, so that when you meet her again, you can hold your head high and actually be decent parents for once."

With that, Amaranth turned around to leave and both of the two started on their way to Lively Town.

"Wonder what Espurr's family name is?" Fennix asked.

Light shook his head. "We won't know unless she decides to tell us. But that's her choice. For now, we should probably head back into town. We're supposed to be relaxing, remember?"

"Yeah, I guess," Fennix groaned. "Not that I want to. I think I'm going to go stir crazy out here."

Light chuckled at the statement before he turned around to leave. However, upon both sensing a presence behind them and seeing that Fennix didn't turn around to follow him, Light faced forward once again. And there, standing only a few feet away, were Vivi and Selena staring directly at the two kids.

Light nervously rubbed the back of his head at how awkward the situation became. "Uhh…hi?"

Vivi and Selena both walked closer in sync and both placed their right paw on Light and Fennix's shoulder respectively. "Take care of Espurr, please," they both pleaded before they removed their paws.

Without saying another word, the two retreated back into town. Light wasn't entirely sure what to say to them, really. He didn't really know how he felt about the two Pokémon that much, since he didn't really know them. So he just let them go, hoping that Amaranth was right. Hoping that they could redeem themselves one day.

* * *

So Light and Fennix took their time rest in Serene Village. Light, as he planned, didn't really do much at that time. He made small talk with some of his friends, practiced Wish a little, and otherwise read some books while they waited. He wasn't entirely sure what Fennix did most of the time, as they were mostly separate during their break, but she didn't seem to get in too much trouble. She complained about being bored when they were together, but she didn't get the entire town after her, so she couldn't have gotten into too much trouble.

However, Fennix was starting to get a little stir crazy after the first day, and Light sort of had to agree with her. As much as he enjoyed relaxing and liked the atmosphere of Serene Village, he did like helping Pokémon out and didn't get much of a chance to do that in Serene Village. So the Fire-type convinced Light that, technically, Amaranth wanted to not see them for three days. And if they left in the afternoon, it would be the third day when they reached Lively Town. Light felt the logic was a little flimsy, but he agreed regardless just because he really wanted to see how Espurr was healing.

So on the afternoon of the second day after Espurr left, Light and Fennix both said their farewells to everyone else before walking their way to Lively Town. Unlike the school kids, Light and Fennix had no real urgency to get there, so the two took their time. As such, it was late in the morning when they finally reached the familiar territory of Lively Town's gates. The two of them made a beeline for the Expedition Society's headquarters and finally entered the place for the first time in over a week.

"Hey everyone, we're back!" Fennix announced as soon as they got into the building,

Light took around and saw that Mawile, Dedenne, and Archen were in the building, chatting among each other. Buizel was also there, but he was amusingly busy mopping the floors of the building. Light wasn't entirely sure why, but Buizel noticed them immediately upon walking in, so he figured he'd learn eventually.

"Hey Light, Fennix. Good to see you two here, but try not to walk on the wet floor too much. I just did that spot," Buizel said with a nervous grin dunking his mop in the bucket he had next to his feet.

"So, what got you on mop duty?" Light asked, walking further into the building. He kept his eyes out for any sign of Amaranth or Espurr.

"He disobeyed orders," Mawile said. Light and Fennix turned their attention from Buizel to her to see that her conversation was over and the rest of the Pokémon on that floor were all facing the two kids. "He was supposed to come back to Lively Town after escorting your friends back to Serene Village. But he went off to follow you guys instead. So, for his punishment, he has to clean the floors for the next week."

"And helped them capture a bandit group!" Buizel mentioned, glaring at the guild's second in command. "You know, the thing that basically helped save their lives? So how come I'm on mop duty instead of getting credit?"

The door to the medical office loudly opened and Amaranth walked out of it, slowly making a beeline towards the group. "Because sadly, Buizel, disobeying direct orders does not get you praise anywhere. Perhaps you should have actually asked the Chief before running off on your own."

Once she got close, Amaranth turned her eyes to the two kids. "Light, Fennix, you're both here early."

"Well, you said you didn't want to see us for three days, and it's been three days," Fennix pointed out while a smile on her face.

Amaranth stared at the fennekin like she was insane before rolling her eyes and turning away. "Whatever," Amaranth dismissed. "It's your health, not mine."

Light examined his surroundings once more. "So, where is Espurr?"

Amaranth shrugged. "She's fine. You'll see her soon."

"It's good to see you guys back, though," Dedenne butted in. "Ready to start work again?"

"You bet!" Fennix cheered. She jumped and did a backflip, bursting with energy. "I've been feeling so closed off in Serene Village. It'll be nice to do some work again and get some exploring in!"

"Has morning announcements already happened?" Light asked, his mind still on Espurr, but figuring that he'll learn about her eventually anyways.

"No, it's about to start, actually," Mawile answered. "Everyone else should be coming in soon."

And, as Mawile said, Swirlix came from the kitchen and Jirachi came bounding down from upstairs. Everyone lined up facing the door strangely enough instead of upstairs, where Ampharos usually came from. Still, Light and Fennix both took their place in the lineup regardless and waited there. However, Jirachi didn't take his position in line. Instead, he made a beeline to Team Rebirth.

"Hey, give me your Expedition Gadgets," Jirachi demanded.

Light rolled his eyes and chuckled at Jirachi's bluntness, reaching into his scarf to grab his gadget. "You got some sort of update or something?"

"Pretty much." Jirachi took the gadgets from both of the kids before floating quickly back upstairs.

"Well…that was odd," Light chuckled. He glanced at everyone else in the line to his left. "What's up with this update."

"We're getting a new member of the Expedition Society today," Mawile explained. "The update has to do with them."

Fennix tilted her head, but her eyes also lit up "Another new member? So soon? Wow, the Chief is on a roll lately!"

 _Wait…can it be?_ Light thought, an idea forming in his head.

"And helloooo to you all," Ampharos's voice came from outside the building.

Everyone's attention was immediately turned to entrance where the yellow electric sheep came walking in. Their chief walked in with a confident smile on his face and his golden Expedition Society badge shining at the top-right corner of the white fur on his belly and chest. Once he knew he had everyone's attention, Ampharos struck a pose.

"The Dashing Wanderer is back!" Ampharos announced.

"Welcome back, Chief," Mawile started.

"Welcome back!" everyone else repeated after her.

"As many of you know, we have ourselves a new friend joining up today," Ampharos addressed the Expedition Society. "Allow me to introduce her now." Ampharos raised his paw and a small figure walked into the building, one very familiar to Light and Fennix. "Many of you know her already, but for those of you who don't, let me introduce you to Espurr."

Espurr bowed to everyone, a happy smile on her face. As Light examined her better, he noticed some slight differences to her as well. Her fur was a bit shorter and cleaned up as well. She also had these giant spheres covering her ears, which were connected by a curved bar reaching to the top of her head with an antenna poking out from the top. Light was curious as to the purpose of that machine, but he also had more pressing things on his mind.

"Hello everybody," Espurr spoke after her bow. "Many of you have met me and worked with me before. I was here during the Dark Matter incident, after all. But I'm glad to be officially working with all of you now."

Fennix took a step back in shock, nearly running into Light as she did so. "Espurr, y-you're…joining the Expedition Society?!"

Espurr nodded in Fennix's direction. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. When Amaranth suggested we go to Lively Town, this was something I was thinking about for a while." Espurr stopped for a moment and thought of things. "Actually, this was something I've been thinking about for a long time. Both thanks to your urging me to join your team, and thanks to my work helping out with the Dark Matter incident. And now that I don't have the urge my parents imposed on me to stay in Serene Village, I can finally do this."

Light gave her a knowing look. "But you're not joining our team, right?"

Espurr shook her head. "Sorry. A part of me wanted to. I'm sure I'd have a lot of fun joining you on your adventures like before. However, there's another role I decided to take."

Espurr nodded towards Ampharos, who began explaining. "As you all know, communication around here is through the Expedition Gadgets and Dedenne's electric signals. And that has worked rather wondrously, to be sure. However, Espurr here has offered a service that has many similarities, but is also quite different. Specifically, her services as a navigator."

"A…navigator?" Light asked.

Espurr nodded and started explaining herself. "Normally with my Psychic power, I can communicate to you all in a similar way that Dedenne can. Not as well, unfortunately, as I can only do a one-way communication, but it could work as a substitute. However, thanks to working with Jirachi, there is something new I can do."

"It's ready!" Jirachi announced with perfect timing. The mythical Pokémon came bounding down the stairs and handed Light and Fennix back their Expedition Gadgets. Light turned his device on and saw nothing too different from the norm, so he frowned at it in confusion.

"What's on there isn't an active function, but rather a passive one," Espurr clarified. "With this new update and these headphones Jirachi made me, I can use my telepathy and 'see' the area you're in anywhere else in the world, almost as if I were there right next to you. In other words, anything I could normally do with my telepathy, like sensing where other Pokémon are and what they are, I can do from a distance."

"Woah!" Light gasped in amazement. "Really?"

"That's the intention anyways. What we're hoping this will do is allow me to update you guys in whatever dungeon your in. When I sense an enemy approaching, I'll warn you about them and what they are, their strengths and weaknesses, things like that. That way, you can be better prepared for what's going on. It'll also keep you from being ambushed suddenly, like what happened a lot over the past week. Not only that, but if you need to inform the Chief about something immediately, you can just send me a telepathic message and I'll be able to tell him much faster then going through the gadget and Dedenne."

Light glanced at the other electric mouse. "It almost sounds like you're replacing Dedenne in a way."

Dedenne scoffed. "Hardly. If anything, she's making my job easier."

"That's right," Espurr continued. "There's a lot I can't do that Dedenne can. I can't exactly do conversations between members, unless they're in the same place. So like, if Light and Amaranth needed to have some sort of medical conversation or something because Fennix hurt herself…"

"Hey!" Fennix yelled, a puff of smoke coming out of her nose. "Why am I the one who hurt myself in your example?!"

"…I wouldn't be able to carry that conversation, since I'm only able to communicate with one or the other," Espurr finished, ignoring Fennix's outburst. "And I especially can't do conversations involving three or more Pokémon. Those would all go through Dedenne, as normal."

Light took a moment to process the information. "That's…kinda cool. Still, I'm surprised that's what you decided to do. I would've figured you'd take a more active role."

"'Just because I'm not fighting doesn't mean I'm not helpful'," Espurr quoted. "Isn't that what you told me?"

Light smiled. "Point taken."

"Besides, I can still take on field missions, just like Dedenne does occasionally. I'll just be mainly helping with communications."

"For now, though, this communication will mainly be with Team Rebirth," Ampharos announced. "Little Espurr here just got better from a terrible illness and it's best we don't strain her. That, and she might find it overwhelming if she tries to navigate for everyone at once. Team Rebirth shall therefore be the ones to trial this new method."

"Thanks for doing this without telling us," Light snarked, though he did so with a chuckle. "But we'll be happy to try this out."

Espurr nodded. "Alright. Would you two mind testing this for me? Go to the Lively Town docks and we'll see what I can 'see.'"

"We will," Light and Fennix both promised.

"Now, give it your all out there team!" Ampharos said to finish up morning announcements.

"Yes sir!" everyone else answered back before dispersing.

Light and Fennix both walked out of the building and went to their left upon reaching the square to go to the docks. It wasn't too long of a trip before they made it to the docks, and upon reaching there Light decided to take them to the lighthouse, the farthest place away aside from the sea. Once there, they waited for Espurr's signal.

" _Testing, testing,_ " Light heard Espurr's voice in his head. " _Light, Fennix, can you hear me?_ "

"Loud and clear!" Fennix answered.

" _Thanks, but you really don't need to shout it out loud,"_ Espurr mentioned. " _Just say whatever you need in your mind and I'll be able to hear it._ _Alright, now let's see…"_

Espurr's voice was silent for a few minutes, so Light and Fennix waited patiently for it to come back on. Eventually, she spoke again. " _So, the Pokémon around here are Shinx close by you, looking longingly at the lighthouse. Gogoat and Donphan should be unloading packages shipped to the docks. It seems a phanpy is there as well. And there should be two Dark-types._ "

Light looked up to confirm everything that Espurr stated. _"Hmm…yeah, you're right,"_ Light stated. " _Everyone you told us was exactly where you warned they are. The two Dark-types are Krokorok and Krookodile, by the way."_

" _Sorry, I can't help you much with Dark-types,"_ Espurr apologized. " _I can tell that they're there, but their minds are completely blank to me."_

"It's alright," Fennix stated out loud once again. "You got most of them."

" _That's good. We'll have to keep testing how well this works and what it's limitations are, but it seems to be working so far. Anyways, you two can head back now. Amaranth wants to see you two in the Medical Office now._ "

"Amaranth?" Fennix asked as both her and Light started moving back to base. "Why does she want to see us?"

" _Probably to make sure you're alright,"_ Espurr suggested. " _You are here a day earlier then she had planned. She probably just wants to make sure that you're all there, physically and mentally. That's…just my guess anyways. She's really good at blocking her mind, so I can't figure it out normally."_

" _Well, we'll see her anyways_ ," Light nodded. " _Thanks for telling us, Espurr."_

"… _About that,"_ Espurr hesitated.

"About what?" Fennix asked.

A long paused happened before Espurr spoke again. " _There's…something I want you guys to do for me in these telepathic conversations. And only in these."_

" _What do you mean?"_ Light asked.

" _My pa…Vivi and Selena gave me a family name,"_ Espurr reminded them. " _But with them gone, there's nobody around to really use it. Even if I'm still not sure how I feel about them, I don't want it to go to waste. So in these conversations, I want you two to use it too."_

" _Well, what is it?"_ Light asked. " _If you want, we'll be sure to use it. It'll take a bit of getting used to, since we've called you Espurr for so long, but we'll get it eventually."_

" _Thanks. …Lilac. That's the name my parents gave me."_

" _Lilac?"_ Fennix asked, having the tact to think it instead of saying it out loud.

" _Alright Lilac."_ Light mouthed the name as well, attempting to get used to it. " _We look forward to working with you._ "

" _Likewise,_ " Espurr responded.

So Light and Fennix, taking their friend's advice, walked back into the building and into the medical office where Amaranth was waiting for them. Once they got there, they saw the shaymin writing some sort of letter using Psychic. Once the door closed behind them, though, the shaymin noticed their presence and immediately hid the paper on her desk.

"What was that?" Fennix asked.

"None of your business," the shaymin coldly barked. "Besides, you both aren't here for that. You're here for your own sake."

"How are you feeling?" Amaranth asked, trying to come up with some sort of caring voice that…hardly sounded caring at all if Light had to be honest.

Light thought for a moment, taking stock of his physical and mental state. "Honestly, I _feel_ fine. Especially seeing Espurr up and working so hard. I feel like I'm much better right now."

"I do to!" Fennix cheered with much more confidence than Light. "I'm ready to get back to exploring!"

Amaranth rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm just going to say take it easy. I don't believe for a second that your completely cured from the mental strain you went through last week. But I suppose each Pokémon heals differently. And getting back to a regular schedule will likely do you some good. Just don't push yourself."

"We won't," Light promised. "And besides, we've got Espurr looking out for us now."

"True enough, I guess." Amaranth turned around and turned her attention back to her desk. "You two may go now, then."

"That's…it?" Light asked.

"If you're looking for some sort of confession of love, I'm two hundred years too old for you and will live two hundred years longer than you," Amaranth snarked nonchalantly. "And frankly, you're not even close to my type."

Light took a step back. "N-no, that's now what I meant. I was…kinda hoping you'd…"

"Admit that I have cared all this time in some random sappy moment?" Amaranth dismissed. "Hardly. You got the closest thing to that before in Carracosta's house. If you're looking for some sort of change…I suppose by now it's pointless for me to not bother talking to anyone. But don't expect much else. I'm still immortal, you're still not. That's how it always will be."

Fennix shook her head, though Amaranth wasn't even looking. "I don't think you should make your immortality a curse like that. We live, and we die. That's true. I…understand that now. When I thought Espurr was going to die, it was like a part of my heart was being squeezed shut too. But…I think even if she did die, she wouldn't really be gone. A part of her would still be with me, with us. At least, that's what I think."

Fennix glanced at Light while still addressing Amaranth. "Even if I learned I was immortal somehow, I'd still be just as good friends with Light. Sure, it'd suck losing him after everything, but I'd still be glad I met him. We've had so much fun together, we've done so many amazing things, that I wouldn't trade those for anything. I don't care how much pain I would have to go through. It's still worth it because of how amazing our time together was."

Amaranth still didn't catch the fennekin's gaze. "…I have a friend who believes the same thing you do. I wish I could see the world through both of your eyes, believe what you do. …Tell you what. Tell me those same words years from now, when you're old and have experienced so much more of the world. If you can say those words then with the same conviction you said them now, then maybe I'll believe you."

The shaymin shook her head. "Until then, we're done with this conversation. You may both leave now."

Light didn't really want to leave it like that, but he knew that Amaranth wasn't going to do much else about it. So Light and Fennix eventually turned around to leave the medical office. But the pikachu knew that, even if the shaymin didn't want to admit it, she did care. She just didn't want to admit the possibility of losing it as the eternal flower.

* * *

 _Dear R,_

 _Sorry it's been so long since my last letter. There was an event where one of the crew had their friend get sick. Psychica Mortem, that fun stuff. Caused by her parents too, actually. Accidently, but still. Luckily, she's all better now and has even joined the Expedition Society. You might see her if you happen to pass by Lively Town. Mention me, though, and I'll pretend I don't know you._

 _Still, I'll give credit where credit is due. Those kids are something else. They're annoying as can be, but they're good kids at least. The pikachu is naïve, but easy to talk to at least. And the fennekin is an idiot, to be frank, but passionate about what she believes in. And I'm glad I managed to save their friend._

… _You were right, you know. Doing this was good for me. Though I'll never admit it to your face, for now I'm glad I joined the Expedition Society. Though…I still know the inevitable truth that they die and I won't. You better be ready for when that happens, okay? Because it will be a difficult time for me._

 _You know who I am,_

 _A_

 _PS: That child's parents are heading your way. They were once members of the Blood Moon Bandits and are being sent to prison on the Grass Continent. Send that Drowzee friend over to see them when they get there._

In the early morning on a cliff shaped like a sharpedo, a shaymin in his deer-like Sky Forme read the letter with a smile on his face. He gazed at the pink sky as he thought about his friend, seeing the spring petals from trees close by in the sunlight.

"Heh, glad to hear you're doing just fine," the shaymin spoke quietly. "As for those kids…keep at it. You two might not know it, but you're doing a great thing right now."

The shaymin placed the letter in his bag before flying back into the Sharpedo's mouth, so he can join his team for the day to come.

* * *

 **AN:** And so we have finally reached the end of Amaranth. The story went a bit longer than I thought, but I'm overall satisfied with what I've done so far. I liked the overall emotions that went inside it, Amaranth herself was actually rather fun to write as I enjoyed writing the interactions between a cynical character and more idealistic characters. The most negative thing I have to say, personally, is that I realized I'm not as good with time limits as I should be. Crossing the world in under X amount of time is difficult, so I probably should have been more lenient with the time.

But otherwise, I enjoyed writing this. So I hope you all enjoyed as well. And I'll see you all when my next story comes out.

Special thanks to TheGOAT for beta reading the first half of this story and TheGoldCrow for the second half. You two were really helpful for improving this story's overall quality.


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